District of Columbia · All industries · Annual, 2025

Employment in the District of Columbia

Name: Employment in the District of Columbia
Creator: Data Tactical Group
License: https://datatactical.group/legal/terms

Employment, establishments and average pay across all industries in the District of Columbia, 2004–2025, from DTG's QCEW-based estimates.

In 2025, employers in the District of Columbia had about 742,400 people on their payrolls across roughly 51,316 establishments, with average annual pay of $128,850.

Total employment in the District of Columbia grew 12.6% from 2004 to 2025. Quarterly values, full industry and occupation detail and projections to 2036 for the District of Columbia are included with a free account. County-level detail is part of every paid plan, or one county free for seven days.

742,400Employment, 2025
51,316Establishments
$128,850Avg. annual pay

The 2025 figures above are a DTG estimate: Estimated · 1.00.

Employment, 2004 to 2025

Annual average · all industries · all ownerships

Employment by sector, 2025

NAICS sector · 19 sectors

Code	Sector	Employment	Share of District of Columbia	LQ	Source
11	Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting	15	0.0%	<0.01	est. · 0.59
23	Construction	13,878	1.9%	0.35	est. · 0.98
31-33	Manufacturing	3,866	0.5%	0.06	est. · 0.94
22	Utilities	2,092	0.3%	0.50	est. · 0.99
42	Wholesale Trade	5,620	0.8%	0.20	est. · 0.99
44-45	Retail Trade	19,969	2.7%	0.27	pub.
48-49	Transportation and Warehousing	9,622	1.3%	0.27	est. · 0.99
51	Information	22,140	3.0%	1.55	est. · 0.98
52	Finance and Insurance	15,073	2.0%	0.50	est. · 1.00
53	Real Estate and Rental and Leasing	12,008	1.6%	1.03	est. · 1.00
54	Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services	119,877	16.2%	2.31	pub.
55	Management of Companies and Enterprises	3,205	0.4%	0.26	pub.
56	Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services	47,327	6.4%	1.09	pub.
61	Educational Services	56,787	7.6%	0.89	est. · 0.92
62	Health Care and Social Assistance	78,988	10.6%	0.66	est. · 0.99
71	Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation	16,217	2.2%	1.12	est. · 1.00
72	Accommodation and Food Services	66,731	9.0%	0.98	est. · 1.00
81	Other Services (except Public Administration)	65,721	8.8%	2.92	pub.
92	Public Administration	183,003	24.6%	4.87	est. · 0.98

† Not disclosed in QCEW; DTG estimate.

One public page per sector and per 3-digit subsector, annual, with the mark on every value. A sector name is a link where its page is built.

Last ten years

Annual · all industries · 10 years

Year	Employment	Estab.	Avg. annual pay	Change	Source
2025	742,405	51,316	$128,852	2.3%	est. · 1.00
2024	759,666	52,240	$122,989	0.3%	pub.
2023	757,754	51,503	$117,888	1.2%	pub.
2022	748,737	48,564	$113,915	3.2%	pub.
2021	725,826	44,401	$112,148	0.0%	pub.
2020	726,082	42,535	$107,075	6.4%	pub.
2019	776,041	40,713	$98,051	0.6%	pub.
2018	771,750	39,695	$95,909	1.0%	pub.
2017	763,847	39,939	$92,544	0.9%	pub.
2016	756,646	38,866	$89,481	1.8%	pub.

Employment by occupation group, 2025

SOC major group · 22 groups

Code	Occupation group	Employment	Share of District of Columbia	LQ
11-0000	Management occupations	90,965	12.3%	1.74
13-0000	Business and financial operations occupations	121,012	16.3%	2.44
15-0000	Computer and mathematical occupations	51,510	6.9%	2.08
17-0000	Architecture and engineering occupations	14,623	2.0%	1.18
19-0000	Life, physical, and social science occupations	21,433	2.9%	3.07
21-0000	Community and social service occupations	14,575	2.0%	1.16
23-0000	Legal occupations	38,397	5.2%	6.19
25-0000	Educational instruction and library occupations	35,925	4.8%	0.83
27-0000	Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations	28,772	3.9%	2.92
29-0000	Healthcare practitioners and technical occupations	39,795	5.4%	0.85
31-0000	Healthcare support occupations	21,597	2.9%	0.58
33-0000	Protective service occupations	28,636	3.9%	1.61
35-0000	Food preparation and serving related occupations	56,418	7.6%	0.87
37-0000	Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations	21,951	3.0%	1.01
39-0000	Personal care and service occupations	15,433	2.1%	1.00
41-0000	Sales and related occupations	27,129	3.6%	0.43
43-0000	Office and administrative support occupations	64,534	8.7%	0.74
45-0000	Farming, fishing, and forestry occupations	190	0.0%	0.09
47-0000	Construction and extraction occupations	12,673	1.7%	0.41
49-0000	Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations	12,809	1.7%	0.44
51-0000	Production occupations	5,677	0.8%	0.14
53-0000	Transportation and material moving occupations	18,350	2.5%	0.28

Occupation values are DTG estimates built on OEWS and DTG's industry data. They carry no published or estimated mark and no reliability score, because there is no published occupation census to mark them against.

Where these numbers come from

What this page shows

Every industry sector in the state, and every occupation group, with annual employment for the most recent complete year in the current vintage, and the state’s own total over every actual year. Figures are for all ownerships combined and are not seasonally adjusted. County figures, quarterly figures and the full industry and occupation depth are in the app; the nation and every state are free there.

Reading the table

A state value is DTG’s value for the state: the value the Bureau of Labor Statistics published where QCEW disclosed it, and DTG’s estimate where QCEW withheld it. It is not a sum of the state’s counties. Where a value was withheld in QCEW it is marked as estimated rather than left blank, with its reliability score, and the legend beneath the table names the marker. Every figure on the page comes from one named vintage, stated beside the page, and does not change until the next release.

Estimated by Data Tactical Group from BLS QCEW, with CES/SAE and projection inputs described in the methodology. Method: Disclosure, Industry, Occupation.

Notes

Data Tactical Group is an independent company and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any federal agency.

Every industry in District of Columbia, quarterly, at full depth

This page shows District of Columbia annually, by sector. A free account shows District of Columbia and every other state at full industry and occupation depth, quarterly, with projections to ten years. No card.

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