Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

Across all occupations in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metropolitan area, the median wage is $72,610 a year ($34.91 an hour) and the mean $91,790, May 2025. That median is +42% against the US median of $50,980 and +15% against Washington's $62,990. BLS counts 2,086,210 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is cardiologists; the largest is software developers.

All occupations: Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA vs Washington and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA area, Washington and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	Hourly	$20.33	$23.64	$34.91	$54.16	$80.50	$44.13	2,086,210
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	Annual	$42,280	$49,160	$72,610	$112,650	$167,440	$91,790	2,086,210
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.

694 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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Cardiologists	$662,760	$318.63	130
2	Anesthesiologists	$646,930	$311.02	990
3	Dermatologists	$641,210	$308.27	**
4	Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric	$576,130	$276.99	180
5	Surgeons, All Other	$504,360	$242.48	250
6	Emergency Medicine Physicians	$380,870	$183.11	**
7	Chief Executives	$370,000	$177.89	2,060
8	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	$343,140	$164.97	150
9	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$340,010	$163.47	850
10	Neurologists	$331,080	$159.17	130
11	Physicians, All Other	$330,560	$158.92	3,590
12	Psychiatrists	$307,710	$147.94	230
13	Family Medicine Physicians	$306,190	$147.21	840
14	Physicians, Pathologists	$300,580	$144.51	140
15	Nurse Anesthetists	$274,390	$131.92	420
16	Podiatrists	$232,970	$112.00	90
17	Dentists, All Other Specialists	$232,090	$111.58	40
18	Airline Pilots, Copilots, and Flight Engineers	$229,900	*	3,340
19	Compensation and Benefits Managers	$216,580	$104.12	340
20	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Washington	$214,680	$103.21	13,170

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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Software Developers in Washington	92,770	44.47	4.10	$167,280
2	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Washington	54,670	26.21	0.95	$48,210
3	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Washington	49,190	23.58	0.95	$39,150
4	Retail Salespersons in Washington	46,620	22.35	0.89	$42,080
5	Registered Nurses in Washington	39,900	19.12	0.88	$128,260
6	Business Operations Specialists, All Other in Washington	38,800	18.60	2.66	$101,920
7	Stockers and Order Fillers in Washington	30,860	14.79	0.81	$46,830
8	Cashiers in Washington	30,470	14.61	0.74	$44,210
9	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Washington	29,490	14.14	0.75	$47,740
10	General and Operations Managers in Washington	29,370	14.08	0.62	$146,030
11	Office Clerks, General in Washington	27,460	13.16	0.83	$53,290
12	Project Management Specialists in Washington	26,910	12.90	1.88	$130,380
13	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Washington	26,820	12.86	0.90	$46,490
14	Waiters and Waitresses in Washington	26,530	12.72	0.87	$57,280
15	Customer Service Representatives in Washington	25,840	12.39	0.74	$53,550
16	Accountants and Auditors in Washington	22,100	10.59	1.14	$99,370
17	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Washington	21,230	10.18	0.77	$71,240
18	Teaching Assistants, Except Postsecondary in Washington	21,040	10.09	1.10	$53,950
19	Cooks, Restaurant in Washington	20,850	10.00	1.10	$47,730
20	Computer Systems Analysts	19,050	9.13	2.73	$133,690

Most concentrated occupations in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, 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	Avionics Technicians	11.42	2,880	1.38	$100,200
2	Aerospace Engineering and Operations Technologists and Technicians	10.39	1,570	0.75	$125,160
3	Aircraft Structure, Surfaces, Rigging, and Systems Assemblers	8.77	4,010	1.92	$110,470
4	Web and Digital Interface Designers	6.80	10,330	4.95	$133,760
5	Statisticians	6.58	2,560	1.23	$105,650
6	Tapers	6.47	1,120	0.54	$80,340
7	Aerospace Engineers	6.03	5,480	2.62	$163,580
8	Ship Engineers	5.17	580	0.28	$108,900
9	Mathematical Science Occupations, All Other	4.84	240	0.12	$72,710
10	Hoist and Winch Operators	4.45	160	0.07	$74,840

Occupation groups in Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$168,110	$184,140	117,570	56.36	0.79
Computer and Mathematical	$156,000	$151,750	194,970	93.46	2.76
Architecture and Engineering	$124,180	$125,940	50,350	24.13	1.43
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$122,880	$138,050	110,230	52.84	0.84
Legal	$116,750	$139,860	18,110	8.68	1.03
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$102,320	$107,250	25,810	12.37	1.31
Business and Financial Operations	$101,950	$112,940	201,160	96.42	1.42
Construction and Extraction	$78,670	$87,590	88,640	42.49	1.03
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$74,630	$78,620	71,640	34.34	0.88
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$73,870	$89,530	29,190	13.99	1.06
Educational Instruction and Library	$72,190	$82,050	107,040	51.31	0.88
Community and Social Service	$72,180	$75,420	35,880	17.20	1.00
Office and Administrative Support	$59,660	$62,960	212,900	102.05	0.89
Protective Service	$59,620	$73,780	43,230	20.72	0.85
Production	$59,600	$67,160	84,180	40.35	0.73
Transportation and Material Moving	$52,940	$64,110	161,300	77.32	0.88
Sales and Related	$50,760	$67,960	168,900	80.96	0.94
Healthcare Support	$49,150	$53,990	101,480	48.64	0.96
Personal Care and Service	$48,570	$57,000	42,370	20.31	0.97
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$47,380	$50,740	51,860	24.86	0.85
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$46,480	$50,770	167,040	80.07	0.91
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$45,050	$50,700	2,370	1.13	0.41

Every occupation in Washington, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 694 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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA estimates (area 42660).

*: 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 Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, 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.