Top 100 highest-paying jobs in District of Columbia

Table 1 compares the top 100 highest-paying jobs in District of Columbia, ranked by annual average salary. For each job, the table displays the number of employees with that job, as well as the job's entry-level salary. (The entry-level salary is calculated based on the 10% of paid workers with the lowest salaries.)

Based on the table, we see that the highest-paying jobs in District of Columbia are those of physicians, pathologist, with an average annual salary of $220,410. The second highest-paying jobs are those of chief executive, with an average salary of $220,000.

All of the shown salary and employment information for District of Columbia has been computed using data published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics in April 2023. Notably, the highest-paying occupations change from year to year. Tables 2, 3, and 4 show the top 10 highest-paying occupations in District of Columbia in 2021, 2020, and 2019.

Table 1. Top 100 highest-paying jobs in District of Columbia (2022 survey)

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i	Entry Level Salary i	No. of Empl i
1	Physicians, Pathologists	$220,410	$101,380	40
2	Chief Executives	$220,000	$100,320	1,610
3	All Other Physicians	$218,070	$78,860	1,070
4	All Other Surgeons	$212,290	$107,430	40
5	General Dentists	$194,170	$104,000	540
6	Family Medicine Physicians	$191,560	$78,090	30
7	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	$187,200	$162,240	30
8	Real Estate Brokers	$180,470	$58,480	260
9	Lawyers	$177,880	$118,980	33,610
10	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$175,880	$126,470	4,590
11	Public Relations Managers	$172,560	$100,640	6,830
12	Emergency Management Directors	$168,270	$119,240	140
13	Human Resources Managers	$165,530	$103,730	1,930
14	Art Directors	$165,000	$73,990	470
15	Financial Managers	$164,090	$121,810	7,670
16	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$164,090	$130,440	1,400
17	Postsecondary Law Teachers	$162,320	$64,120	530
18	Marketing Managers	$161,920	$103,080	2,750
19	Nuclear Engineers	$159,620	$96,670	180
20	Sales Managers	$157,820	$82,090	1,390
21	General and Operations Managers	$155,670	$80,400	32,040
22	Purchasing Managers	$155,670	$130,440	1,300
23	All Other Managers	$155,670	$117,500	19,930
24	Atmospheric and Space Scientists	$155,670	$75,910	60
25	Financial Examiners	$154,810	$56,870	550
26	Natural Sciences Managers	$153,380	$91,200	1,510
27	Fundraising Managers	$151,710	$98,300	610
28	Engineers, All Other	$151,470	$92,830	2,640
29	Marine Engineers and Naval Architects	$150,920	$103,040	340
30	Aerospace Engineers	$147,650	$81,830	310
31	Other Physical Scientists	$147,260	$97,430	740
32	Air Traffic Controllers	$143,170	$32,550	490
33	Actuaries	$143,060	$95,060	170
34	Economists	$143,060	$81,900	3,910
35	Detectives and Criminal Investigators	$142,420	$85,560	2,870
36	Database Architects	$141,380	$84,140	610
37	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers	$140,560	$78,870	500
38	Training and Development Managers	$140,230	$93,490	150
39	Electronics Engineers (Non Computer)	$139,110	$94,430	530
40	Political Scientists	$138,840	$79,780	3,360
41	Compensation and Benefits Managers	$138,340	$100,930	150
42	Pharmacists	$135,670	$42,590	880
43	Financial Risk Specialists	$135,350	$79,430	240
44	Software Developers	$135,230	$87,760	7,760
45	Geoscientists (Except Hydrologists and Geographers)	$135,090	$89,810	40
46	Chemists	$134,660	$86,570	300
47	Audiologists	$134,460	$84,880	120
48	Medical and Health Services Managers	$133,050	$82,830	1,790
49	Postsecondary Economics Teachers	$131,330	$58,650	140
50	Sales Engineers	$130,380	$103,650	120
51	Computer Network Architects	$129,950	$77,470	1,020
52	Commercial and Industrial Designers	$129,350	$72,950	40
53	Computer Occupations, All Other	$128,170	$74,250	17,880
54	Elementary and Secondary School Education Administrators	$127,640	$78,690	1,370
55	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$127,620	$64,660	2,160
56	Physician Assistants	$127,140	$68,090	580
57	Electrical Engineers	$125,940	$81,970	500
58	Advertising and Promotions Managers	$125,830	$66,000	90
59	Computer and Information Research Scientists	$125,650	$85,740	380
60	Nurse Practitioners	$125,370	$105,780	730
61	Physicists	$124,480	$77,340	680
62	Postsecondary Business Teachers	$123,550	$62,040	670
63	Information Security Analysts	$123,140	$84,300	1,750
64	Construction Managers	$122,740	$82,850	1,310
65	Computer Hardware Engineers	$122,690	$80,420	280
66	Transportation Inspectors	$121,230	$63,390	140
67	Administrative Services Managers	$121,060	$77,780	700
68	Other Education Administrators	$121,060	$56,480	1,030
69	Geographers	$121,060	$92,810	30
70	First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives	$118,650	$85,190	1,240
71	Network and Computer Systems Administrators	$118,640	$71,280	1,540
72	Mechanical Engineers	$118,400	$78,300	550
73	Anthropologists and Archeologists	$116,770	$92,810	50
74	Historians	$116,770	$46,380	230
75	Labor Relations Specialists	$114,980	$80,990	250
76	Statisticians	$114,980	$66,120	1,020
77	Environmental Scientists and Health Specialists	$114,400	$61,800	1,640
78	Materials Engineers	$114,270	$75,750	110
79	Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers	$111,780	$76,050	780
80	First-Line Supervisors of Fire Fighting and Prevention Workers	$111,000	$94,740	360
81	Management Analysts	$110,780	$74,940	19,230
82	Social Scientists and Related Workers	$110,780	$66,060	2,540
83	Other Media and Communication Equipment Workers	$110,780	$47,670	330
84	Epidemiologists	$110,770	$85,210	40
85	Other Financial Specialists	$110,660	$65,920	2,860
86	Property Appraisers and Assessors	$110,360	$71,380	90
87	School Psychologists	$109,670	$67,590	230
88	Buyers and Purchasing Agents	$109,350	$61,590	2,120
89	Budget Analysts	$109,020	$74,940	1,780
90	Environmental Engineers	$109,020	$82,570	220
91	Urban and Regional Planners	$108,630	$66,560	250
92	Other Biological Scientists	$108,160	$74,940	640
93	Database Administrators	$108,010	$61,260	610
94	Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors	$107,790	$78,940	120
95	Other Psychologists	$106,810	$52,120	210
96	Crane and Tower Operators	$106,640	$63,340	50
97	Facilities Managers	$106,590	$67,250	760
98	Computer Systems Analysts	$106,390	$76,530	2,690
99	Optometrists	$106,350	$31,620	70
100	Speech-Language Pathologists	$106,190	$76,680	410

Table 2. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in District of Columbia – 2021 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Family Medicine Physicians	$195,840
2	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	$195,840
3	Lawyers	$172,490
4	Legal Occupations	$170,690
5	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$168,150
6	Financial Examiners	$167,290
7	Public Relations Managers	$164,120
8	Financial Managers	$163,340
9	Marketing Managers	$162,660
10	Human Resources Managers	$162,040

Table 3. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in District of Columbia – 2020 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	$198,780
2	Public Relations and Fundraising Managers	$183,900
3	Lawyers	$170,810
4	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$170,790
5	Legal Occupations	$166,500
6	Financial Examiners	$164,440
7	Human Resources Managers	$163,090
8	Family Medicine Physicians	$162,030
9	Financial Managers	$161,720
10	Marketing Managers	$158,450

Table 4. Top 10 highest-paying jobs in District of Columbia – 2019 survey

Rank	Job Description	Average Salary i
1	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	$203,310
2	Psychiatrists	$184,140
3	Public Relations and Fundraising Managers	$169,600
4	All Other Physicians; and Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric	$169,510
5	Lawyers	$164,210
6	Computer and Information Systems Managers	$164,200
7	Financial Examiners	$160,300
8	Human Resources Managers	$159,770
9	Family Medicine Physicians	$159,500
10	Legal Occupations	$157,270

Also see The most popular jobs in District of Columbia.