The D.C. area's highest-paying job fields are aerospace and defense
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Aerospace and defense provide the highest average salaries among D.C.-area jobs at $107,000, according to Glassdoor data.
Why it matters: No surprise, perhaps, given our government town economy. The industry is a good future bet as the U.S. seeks new defense and AI capabilities.
By the numbers: The other industry that fetches a $100,000 salary on average here is financial services. Capital One is headquartered in gleaming towers in Tysons.
- IT is on the cusp at $99,000.
- Many salaries punch above the national average, including jobs in government and public administration and management and consulting.
Notwithstanding the joke that everyone in D.C. is a lawyer, the legal profession clocked in at #5 with an average salary of $94,000.
Between the lines: $100K isn't quite the same after the high-inflation era we went through the past few years, as my colleague Emily Peck previously covered.
- The D.C. region's high cost of living led nearly 17% of millennials to live with their parents in 2022, according to census numbers.
Zoom in: At the bottom of the list is food service jobs, with an average salary of $37,500. More restaurant workers have recently been pushing for unionization in D.C.
- Two industries had average salaries a smidge below the national average: retail and wholesale ($42,300) and personal consumer services ($44,700).