Data Analyst Salary in Washington, D.C. (May 2025 BLS)

Data Analyst Jobs and Salaries in Washington, D.C. (May 2025 BLS Data)

Dan Patiño

· AI Strategy & Innovation at Coderhouse

If you are weighing a move into analytics from Washington, D.C., the two numbers that matter are how many of these jobs exist locally and what they pay at the bottom of the range, not the headline average. In the Washington, D.C. metro area there are about 9,260 data scientist roles, the median sits at $132,200, and the lowest decile, which is the realistic reference for a first job, is $85,250. Everything below comes from the BLS OEWS May 2025 release.

Median salary

$132,200

Entry level (10th pct)

$85,250

Concentration (LQ)

1.75

How big is the data job market in Washington, D.C.?

The Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area employs roughly 9,260 people under the BLS data scientist code, the 5th largest of the 25 metros tracked here. Nationally the occupation totals about 275,600, so this metro holds 3.4% of it. BLS projects 35% growth nationally, among the fastest rates it publishes.

What do data analysts earn in Washington, D.C.?

The median data scientist wage in Washington, D.C. is $132,200 a year, 10% above the national median of $120,230. The middle half earns between $105,700 and $172,960, and the 90th percentile reaches $212,320. The mean is $143,510; where the mean sits above the median, a long upper tail is pulling the average up.

What can you expect to earn starting out in Washington, D.C.?

The 10th percentile in Washington, D.C. is $85,250. That matters more than the median for anyone entering the field, because it approximates what the least experienced quarter of the market earns. Nationally the same percentile is $67,240. Treat the distance from $85,250 to $132,200 as ground you cover over years, not a starting range.

Is Washington, D.C. actually a data hub?

The location quotient for data scientists in Washington, D.C. is 1.75, meaning the occupation is noticeably more concentrated here than nationally. In practice, this is a genuine hub, not just a large city with a lot of jobs in it. This is the number most salary sites leave out, and it is often more decisive than pay: a metro can post a high median while employing very few people in the role, which means strong salaries and a thin job market.

What about AI engineering roles in Washington, D.C.?

The BLS has no occupation code for AI engineer. The closest published proxy is Software Developers (15-1252), which in Washington, D.C. employs about 69,060 people at a median of $154,930, 14% above the national median of $135,980. The 10th percentile is $96,450 and the 90th is $213,660. Read it as the surrounding band for applied AI work rather than as a figure for the role itself, since AI engineers are distributed across several codes.

10th percentile

$85,250

25th percentile

$105,700

Median

$132,200

Mean

$143,510

75th percentile

$172,960

90th percentile

$212,320

vs national median

10% above the national median

Software developers · median

$154,930

How to get started from Washington, D.C.

Both Coderhouse courses are live online, so where you are based does not change what you can study. Data Analytics runs 11 weeks, one live class a week plus 6 to 8 hours of practice, covering SQL, Python, statistics and experimentation, at $595 launch price. It is not a placement program: no job guarantee, no recruiting team, so the Washington, D.C. search would be yours.

AI Engineering

8 weeks · live online

Build AI systems you can explain, evaluate, and improve—not just demos that happen to call an LLM. Work hands-on with retrieval, RAG, tool use, agents, evals, observability, and deployment while learning the engineering judgment behind reliable AI applications.

See Dates

$595

Data Analytics

11 weeks · live online

Learn to turn data into decisions—not just dashboards. Build practical skills in SQL, Python, metrics, statistics, experimentation, visualization, and AI-assisted analysis, with live feedback from practitioners who do this work professionally.

See dates

$595

Frequently asked questions

How much do data analysts make in Washington, D.C.?

The median for the closest BLS occupation, data scientists, is $132,200 a year in the Washington, D.C. metro area as of May 2025. The range runs from $85,250 at the 10th percentile to $212,320 at the 90th.

How many data jobs are there in Washington, D.C.?

About 9,260 positions under SOC 15-2051, which is 1.75 times the national concentration per worker. That ratio tells you whether the market is deep or just large.

Is Washington, D.C. a good place to start a data career?

On the data: pay is 10% above the national median and the occupation is noticeably more concentrated here than nationally. The entry reference point is $85,250. Weigh both together, since a high median in a thin market is harder to break into than a moderate median in a dense one.

What is the entry-level data analyst salary in Washington, D.C.?

BLS does not publish by experience level. The 10th percentile, $85,250, is the best available proxy for early-career pay, against $67,240 nationally.

Do I need to live in Washington, D.C. to work in data?

Not necessarily, and remote roles widen the market considerably. These figures measure where the job is located rather than where the worker lives, so a remote role at a Washington, D.C. employer would still appear in this metro's count.

Where these numbers come from

All figures come from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025 release, for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV Metropolitan Statistical Area. BLS does not publish a 'data analyst' occupation; the figures above use Data Scientists (SOC 15-2051), the closest published match, and Software Developers (SOC 15-1252) as the proxy for AI engineering roles. OEWS estimates are built from six semiannual panels collected over three years, so they are stable but lag fast-moving pay changes. Wages cover base pay and exclude equity and bonuses, which understates total compensation at large technology employers.

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2025