Electrical Engineer salary in District of Columbia

Official occupation: 17-2071 Electrical Engineers · Reference period May 2025 · Data updated · Confidence 80/100

In District of Columbia, the median electrical engineer earns $143,000 a year, 19% above the United States median of $120,630.

That is the 3rd-highest median among the 49 states with a published figure.

Pay is relatively compressed, with the 10th percentile at $87,450 and the 90th at $195,190 (a ratio of 2.2).

With 330 jobs and a location quotient of 0.37, the role is less common here than in the United States as a whole.

For context, the median across all occupations in District of Columbia is $91,540, so this role pays 1.6 times the local typical wage.

Published figures

Published and derived pay figures
MeasureDistrict of ColumbiaNational
Median annual pay Observed$143,000United States: $120,630
Mean annual pay Observed$142,760United States: $125,100
10th percentile Observed$87,450United States: $76,550
25th percentile Observed$111,530United States: $92,830
75th percentile Observed$173,790United States: $152,950
90th percentile Observed$195,190United States: $184,300
Median hourly pay Observed$68.75United States: $58.00
Employment (jobs) Observed330
Jobs per 1,000 employees Observed0.467
Location quotient Observed0.37
Difference from United States median ($120,630) Derived+19%
Rank among 49 states Derived3
Ratio to District of Columbia all-occupation median ($91,540) Derived1.56×
90th / 10th percentile ratio Derived2.23

Nearby in the ranking

  1. 1. New Mexico$158,520
  2. 2. California$144,040
  3. 3. District of Columbia$143,000
  4. 4. New Hampshire$135,710
  5. 5. Washington$132,710

Largest cities in District of Columbia: Washington, Downtown DC, Columbia Heights, Mount Pleasant, Central 14th Street / Spring Road (GeoNames). Figures are for the whole state, not individual cities.

More pay data

Source, method and data quality

  • Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 (Public domain (U.S. Government work)). Reference period: May 2025. Updates: Yearly (spring release).
  • Observed figures are copied from the published table without adjustment. Derived figures (rankings, ratios and differences) are calculated by us from those observed figures. No figure on this page is modeled or estimated.
  • Relative standard error (PRSE) published per estimate.
  • Confidence score: 80/100. Based on the published sampling error and job count. We only publish region pages scoring 60 or more that have at least 6 observed figures.
  • Place hierarchy from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Data last updated: .
  • Full method: methodology.