Salaries in Washington DC.
3,445 roles. One city.
Cost-of-living index: 1.25x national average. Last updated June 2026.
3,445 roles tracked
Highest Paying
$451,000
Technical Fellow
Median of All Roles
$196,000
AI Benchmark Developer
Entry Level
$40,000
Hotel Clerk / Front Desk
Salary data sourced from Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, H-1B Labor Condition Applications (DOL), state pay-transparency job postings, and community submissions. Ranges reflect 25th to 75th percentile for full-time positions. Cost-of-living adjustments use Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional Price Parities (2025 index). Last updated June 2026.
Washington DC, DC has a cost-of-living index of 1.25x the national average. The highest-paying role is Technical Fellow at $451,000, while the median across all 3,445 roles is $196,000. Washington DC's job market is shaped by the federal government, defense contractors, and a growing commercial tech sector.
About the Washington DC market
Washington DC's job market is shaped by the federal government, defense contractors, and a growing commercial tech sector. Cybersecurity, cloud computing, and consulting firms drive demand for cleared professionals. The region's stability, combined with high government pay scales, creates a salary floor that pulls private sector compensation upward.
Federal GovernmentDefense & CybersecurityConsultingTechnologyNonprofit & Policy
Top 50 salaries in Washington DC
| # | Role | Median | Range |
|---|
| 1 | Technical Fellow | $451,000 | $351,000 – $586,000 |
| 2 | Principal AI Research Scientist | $438,000 | $341,000 – $569,000 |
| 3 | Principal Quantitative Researcher | $429,000 | $334,000 – $557,000 |
| 4 | Chief Security Officer | $429,000 | $334,000 – $558,000 |
| 5 | Distinguished Engineer | $425,000 | $322,000 – $541,000 |
| 6 | Senior VP of Product | $425,000 | $332,000 – $552,000 |
| 7 | Principal AI Safety Engineer | $409,000 | $319,000 – $532,000 |
| 8 | Principal Deep Learning Engineer | $406,000 | $317,000 – $528,000 |
| 9 | Senior VP of Security | $404,000 | $315,000 – $525,000 |
| 10 | L7 Software Engineer | $403,000 | $315,000 – $524,000 |
| 11 | Principal AI Agent Architect | $401,000 | $313,000 – $521,000 |
| 12 | Chief AI Officer | $395,000 | $293,000 – $510,000 |
| 13 | SVP of Product | $395,000 | $309,000 – $514,000 |
| 14 | Principal Applied Scientist | $394,000 | $308,000 – $512,000 |
| 15 | Principal Quantitative Developer | $394,000 | $308,000 – $513,000 |
| 16 | Principal Cryptographer | $394,000 | $308,000 – $512,000 |
| 17 | Staff AI Research Scientist | $391,000 | $306,000 – $509,000 |
| 18 | Senior VP of Design | $391,000 | $306,000 – $509,000 |
| 19 | Chief Strategy Officer | $391,000 | $306,000 – $509,000 |
| 20 | Principal Kernel Engineer | $384,000 | $299,000 – $498,000 |
| 21 | Staff Quantitative Researcher | $384,000 | $299,000 – $499,000 |
| 22 | Principal AI Compiler Engineer | $382,000 | $298,000 – $497,000 |
| 23 | SVP of Technology | $382,000 | $298,000 – $497,000 |
| 24 | SVP of Engineering | $380,000 | $296,000 – $494,000 |
| 25 | Senior Head of Security | $380,000 | $297,000 – $494,000 |
| 26 | CTO | $379,000 | $295,000 – $492,000 |
| 27 | SVP of Sales | $379,000 | $295,000 – $492,000 |
| 28 | Chief Risk Officer | $377,000 | $294,000 – $490,000 |
| 29 | Principal LLM Engineer | $376,000 | $293,000 – $489,000 |
| 30 | Principal Compiler Engineer | $376,000 | $293,000 – $488,000 |
| 31 | Principal Language Runtime Engineer | $376,000 | $293,000 – $488,000 |
| 32 | Principal AI Agent Engineer | $375,000 | $293,000 – $488,000 |
| 33 | Chief Machine Learning Officer | $375,000 | $293,000 – $488,000 |
| 34 | Senior Head of Product | $375,000 | $293,000 – $488,000 |
| 35 | Lead High-Frequency Trading Engineer | $375,000 | $293,000 – $487,000 |
| 36 | Chief Architect | $375,000 | $293,000 – $488,000 |
| 37 | Principal Quantitative Analyst | $372,000 | $290,000 – $483,000 |
| 38 | Chief Science Officer | $372,000 | $290,000 – $484,000 |
| 39 | SVP of Design | $371,000 | $289,000 – $482,000 |
| 40 | Principal AI Engineer | $369,000 | $287,000 – $479,000 |
| 41 | Principal AI Infrastructure Engineer | $368,000 | $287,000 – $478,000 |
| 42 | Principal Distributed Systems Engineer | $368,000 | $287,000 – $478,000 |
| 43 | SVP of Strategy | $368,000 | $287,000 – $478,000 |
| 44 | Chief Digital Officer | $367,000 | $286,000 – $478,000 |
| 45 | Chief Technology Officer | $366,000 | $271,000 – $480,000 |
| 46 | VP of AI | $366,000 | $278,000 – $480,000 |
| 47 | Chief Transformation Officer | $366,000 | $285,000 – $476,000 |
| 48 | SVP of Marketing | $366,000 | $285,000 – $476,000 |
| 49 | Principal NLP Engineer | $365,000 | $284,000 – $473,000 |
| 50 | Principal Computer Vision Engineer | $365,000 | $284,000 – $474,000 |
Tax considerations
DC income tax rates reach 10.75% for high earners. Maryland and Virginia residents working in DC face their own state taxes. Choose your residence jurisdiction carefully to optimize net pay.
Negotiating in Washington DC
A security clearance is your strongest negotiation asset. Cleared professionals in DC command 20 to 30% premiums, and transferring your clearance to a new employer saves them significant time and cost.
Know the number. Get the offer.
Orbyt gives you the salary data, interview prep, and pipeline tools to negotiate from a position of strength.
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