Bellingham, WA

Across all occupations in the Bellingham, WA metropolitan area, the median wage is $57,820 a year ($27.80 an hour) and the mean $71,310, May 2025. That median is +13% against the US median of $50,980 and −8% against Washington's $62,990. BLS counts 91,390 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is chief executives; the largest is fast food and counter workers.

All occupations: Bellingham, WA vs Washington and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Bellingham, WA area, Washington and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Bellingham, WA	Hourly	$17.99	$21.30	$27.80	$40.24	$60.18	$34.29	91,390
Bellingham, WA	Annual	$37,420	$44,310	$57,820	$83,690	$125,170	$71,310	91,390
Washington	Hourly	$18.59	$22.61	$30.28	$48.90	$73.86	$40.06	3,550,970
Washington	Annual	$38,670	$47,020	$62,990	$101,710	$153,630	$83,330	3,550,970
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

321 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: Washington. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Bellingham, WA

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Chief Executives	$236,930	$113.91	70
2	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$193,360	$92.96	80
3	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Washington	$169,640	$81.56	190
4	Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary	$169,470	*	180
5	Dentists, General	$168,030	$80.78	90
6	Physician Assistants	$161,260	$77.53	120
7	Financial Managers in Washington	$158,960	$76.42	250
8	Construction Managers	$156,580	$75.28	210
9	Pharmacists	$156,490	$75.24	140
10	Physicians, All Other	$150,920	$72.56	100
11	Industrial Production Managers	$150,800	$72.50	110
12	Veterinarians	$149,760	$72.00	80
13	Nurse Practitioners	$147,890	$71.10	150
14	Marketing Managers	$143,450	$68.97	110
15	Managers, All Other in Washington	$140,910	$67.74	370
16	Engineers, All Other	$140,220	$67.41	**
17	Human Resources Managers	$137,920	$66.31	80
18	First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers	$137,720	$66.21	130
19	Natural Sciences Managers	$134,220	$64.53	40
20	Sales Managers in Washington	$133,220	$64.05	230

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Bellingham, WA

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Washington	2,830	31.02	1.25	$37,030
1	Retail Salespersons in Washington	2,830	30.92	1.23	$37,840
3	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Washington	2,350	25.72	0.93	$44,080
4	Cashiers in Washington	2,190	24.01	1.21	$37,250
5	Registered Nurses in Washington	1,850	20.19	0.93	*
6	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Washington	1,510	16.54	1.16	$43,560
7	Waiters and Waitresses in Washington	1,450	15.91	1.09	$56,700
8	Office Clerks, General in Washington	1,350	14.72	0.93	$49,460
9	Stockers and Order Fillers in Washington	1,330	14.53	0.80	$41,750
10	General and Operations Managers in Washington	1,270	13.91	0.62	$125,840
11	Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Washington	1,200	13.12	1.44	$51,670
11	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Washington	1,200	13.09	0.99	$61,890
13	Bookkeeping, Accounting, and Auditing Clerks in Washington	1,140	12.50	1.42	$57,000
14	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Washington	1,120	12.28	0.65	$45,570
15	Cooks, Restaurant in Washington	1,090	11.94	1.32	$45,370
16	Construction Laborers in Washington	1,030	11.26	1.60	$58,360
17	Customer Service Representatives in Washington	1,000	10.92	0.65	$46,940
18	Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Washington	960	10.51	1.16	$47,850
19	Carpenters in Washington	950	10.41	2.41	$73,260
20	First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers in Washington	920	10.08	1.40	$57,150

Most concentrated occupations in Bellingham, WA

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Petroleum Pump System Operators, Refinery Operators, and Gaugers	19.69	380	4.20	$105,640
2	Machine Feeders and Offbearers	6.33	160	1.72	$40,430
3	Septic Tank Servicers and Sewer Pipe Cleaners	6.27	110	1.24	$62,940
4	Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing	5.79	210	2.29	$50,220
5	Roofers	5.52	440	4.81	$59,730
6	Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood	4.68	110	1.23	$43,290
7	Library Assistants, Clerical	4.65	230	2.56	$44,440
8	Urban and Regional Planners	4.12	110	1.17	$100,050
9	Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers	4.10	350	3.84	$38,340
10	Detectives and Criminal Investigators	3.88	260	2.86	$122,840

Occupation groups in Bellingham, WA

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$136,640	$150,870	4,020	44.03	0.62
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$103,760	$117,410	5,010	54.87	0.87
Computer and Mathematical	$101,300	$109,130	1,990	21.81	0.64
Architecture and Engineering	$101,120	$108,170	1,310	14.30	0.85
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$87,160	$91,370	970	10.62	1.12
Protective Service	$84,500	$86,330	2,080	22.74	0.94
Legal	$83,740	$100,640	460	5.07	0.60
Business and Financial Operations	$82,300	$91,840	5,690	62.22	0.92
Construction and Extraction	$75,930	$81,910	6,080	66.56	1.61
Community and Social Service	$65,360	$71,380	1,900	20.84	1.21
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$65,150	$71,170	3,600	39.39	1.01
Educational Instruction and Library	$64,740	$75,950	6,040	66.09	1.13
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$55,360	$66,240	1,080	11.76	0.89
Office and Administrative Support	$51,760	$55,890	10,380	113.61	1.00
Production	$48,870	$58,420	6,360	69.57	1.26
Transportation and Material Moving	$48,150	$53,840	6,710	73.37	0.83
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$47,540	$53,950	340	3.72	1.33
Healthcare Support	$47,460	$49,750	4,710	51.49	1.01
Personal Care and Service	$45,180	$50,390	2,010	22.01	1.05
Sales and Related	$43,790	$54,960	8,720	95.44	1.11
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$43,410	$46,380	3,020	33.10	1.13
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$43,290	$47,090	8,900	97.39	1.11

Every occupation in Washington, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 321 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Bellingham, WA estimates (area 13380).

*: Wage estimate not available.
**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Bellingham, WA area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.