Why does the Washington, D.C. metro area have the highest income in the nation? Bloomberg.com surmises it’s because of all the federal employees, whose total compensation averages more than $126,000 per year (including health care and other benefits).
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Get Your Report Now!Bloomberg reports that there are 170,467 federal employees in the District of Columbia as of June. The Washington metro area includes the District of Columbia, parts of Northern Virginia, eastern Maryland and eastern West Virginia.
The DC metro area is also headquarters to government contractors such as Bethesda, Maryland-based Lockheed Martin Corp. (Bethesda, MD), , and General Dynamics Corp. (Falls Church, VA).
According to the article, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics figures, “DC” has knocked the Silicon Valley off the top comp spot.
The average income per household in Washington, DC was $84,523, while the average national household income is $50,046.