How much does a Lawyer make in District of Columbia?

BLS reports a median annual wage of $191,880 for Lawyers in District of Columbia as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $167,270 and the 75th-percentile is —.

How are District of Columbia Lawyer salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

Why is the BEA RPP for District of Columbia different from a single CPI number?

BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. District of Columbia's overall index of 110.7 reflects rents 168.1, services 109.0, and goods 106.5.

Is District of Columbia a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Lawyers?

No — District of Columbia's RPP of 110.7 sits above 100, meaning the $191,880 nominal wage compresses to a real-wage equivalent of $173,313. The cost premium goes mostly to rents and services.

What are the limits of these Lawyer salary numbers?

BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.

Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for District of Columbia?

The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within District of Columbia.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

District of Columbia Lawyer Salary: BLS $192K Median, Real $173K (2026)

TL;DR

Lawyers in District of Columbia earn a BLS median of $191,880, with real take-home of $173,313 after BEA RPP adjustment.
BLS percentiles available for this state: P25 $167,270, P50 $191,880, P75 —. P10 or P90 is suppressed by BLS for this occupation-state cell.
High cost of living compresses the real wage by $18,567 below the nominal — most of which goes to rent and services.
State ranks #2 nationally on nominal wage, #3 on real (RPP-adjusted) wage.

Wage breakdown — District of Columbia

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$128,940	$116,463
P25 (lower quartile)	$167,270	$151,084
P50 (median)	$191,880	$173,313
P75 (upper quartile)
P90 (top tier)
Mean	$236,700	$213,796
Employment	33,430 Lawyers in District of Columbia

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	District of Columbia index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	110.7
Goods	106.5
Services	109.0
Rents	168.1

District of Columbia is a high-cost state — RPP 110.7 above the national 100 baseline. Most of the cost premium routes through rents (168.1) and services (109.0).

After-tax take-home — District of Columbia (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Lawyer)	$191,880	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$34,869	18.2% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$13,469	4–10.75% (graduated)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$14,165	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$129,377	67.4% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$116,858	÷ (110.7 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the District of Columbia state-tax burden means for Lawyer take-home

District of Columbia carries one of the heavier state-tax loads in the country at this income tier (7.0% effective on the BLS median). Combined with federal and FICA, gross-to-take-home spread is 32.6%, leaving $129,377 pre-RPP and $116,858 after the 110.7 cost-of-living index — a $75,022 gap from the headline gross.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $151,160 for Lawyers with mean pay of $182,760 and total employment of 747,750. District of Columbia sits at #2 on nominal pay and #3 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. After cost adjustment, District of Columbia falls 1 positions — the cost premium eats into the headline wage.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a Lawyer make in District of Columbia?: BLS reports a median annual wage of $191,880 for Lawyers in District of Columbia as of the latest OES release. That is the 50th-percentile figure — half earn more, half earn less. The 25th-percentile is $167,270 and the 75th-percentile is —.
How are District of Columbia Lawyer salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
Why is the BEA RPP for District of Columbia different from a single CPI number?: BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. District of Columbia's overall index of 110.7 reflects rents 168.1, services 109.0, and goods 106.5.
Is District of Columbia a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Lawyers?: No — District of Columbia's RPP of 110.7 sits above 100, meaning the $191,880 nominal wage compresses to a real-wage equivalent of $173,313. The cost premium goes mostly to rents and services.
What are the limits of these Lawyer salary numbers?: BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.
Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for District of Columbia?: The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within District of Columbia.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 23-1011, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-07.

Cross-comparison: see how District of Columbia Lawyer pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.