CitySalaryData

Official BLS salary lookup

Search a job and place

Drafters, All Other · SOC 17-3019

Drafters, All Other Salary in the Washington Metro Area

Source: BLS OEWS, May 2025Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area

Figures describe the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan statistical area as defined by BLS/OMB — the whole multi-county metro region, not Washington city limits.

Median annual wage$59,300
Median hourly wage$28.51

Drafters, All Other in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area earned a median of $59,300 per year ($28.51 per hour) as of the May 2025 BLS OEWS estimates. Pay ranged from $47,390 at the 10th percentile to $107,010 at the 90th. BLS estimates 150 people work in this occupation in the area.

Pay distribution

Half of Drafters, All Other in the Washington metro area earn more than $59,300 per year, half earn less; the middle half earn between $47,390 and $91,720.

Wage percentiles (BLS OEWS)
Wage10th25thMedian75th90th
Annual$47,390$47,390$59,300$91,720$107,010
Hourly$22.78$22.78$28.51$44.10$51.45

A percentile is a cut point: 25% of workers in this occupation and area earn less than the 25th-percentile wage. The median is the 50th percentile — half earn less, half earn more.

Download CSV

How this area compares

  • Washington metro areathis metro area
    $59,300
  • United Statesnational
    $63,520

Bars span the 25th–75th percentile (the middle half of workers); the tick marks the median.

The median here is −7% vs the U.S. median for this occupation.

Compare with other areas

Where this metro sits nationally

$34,620$53,363$72,107$90,850Knoxville, TN — $34,620Chattanooga, TN-GA — $37,750Bakersfield-Delano, CA — $47,860Eugene-Springfield, OR — $50,130Tyler, TX — $51,100Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN — $53,300Lancaster, PA — $55,560College Station-Bryan, TX — $55,590Columbus, OH — $55,630Green Bay, WI — $56,280El Paso, TX — $56,420Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD — $57,940Lubbock, TX — $58,430Omaha, NE-IA — $58,650Cleveland, OH — $58,690Lincoln, NE — $58,690Salem, OR — $58,800Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD — $58,810Longview, TX — $58,900Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV — $59,300North Port-Bradenton-Sarasota, FL — $59,520Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL — $59,810Houma-Bayou Cane-Thibodaux, LA — $59,970Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL — $59,970Lafayette, LA — $60,270San Juan-Bayamon-Caguas, PR — $60,310Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL — $60,520Jacksonville, FL — $60,600Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA — $60,600Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX — $60,820Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN — $60,950San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX — $60,950Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX — $61,200Slidell-Mandeville-Covington, LA — $61,260Davenport-Moline-Rock Island, IA-IL — $61,360Rochester, NY — $61,530Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC — $61,800Buffalo-Cheektowaga, NY — $62,080Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV — $62,400Kansas City, MO-KS — $62,410Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA — $62,500St. Louis, MO-IL — $62,500Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA — $62,610Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA — $62,840Bozeman, MT — $63,200Raleigh-Cary, NC — $63,330Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI — $63,540Ogden, UT — $63,780Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA — $64,330Austin-Round Rock-San Marcos, TX — $64,490Billings, MT — $64,490New Orleans-Metairie, LA — $65,870Stockton-Lodi, CA — $66,010Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood, MI — $66,240Richmond, VA — $66,710Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO — $67,320Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA — $67,670Nashville-Davidson--Murfreesboro--Franklin, TN — $67,770Memphis, TN-MS-AR — $68,020Syracuse, NY — $68,500Modesto, CA — $68,850Tucson, AZ — $69,810Phoenix-Mesa-Chandler, AZ — $70,320Lake Charles, LA — $71,690Missoula, MT — $72,520Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA — $72,990Salt Lake City-Murray, UT — $73,080Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT — $73,100Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA — $73,840San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA — $73,880Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH — $74,380Alexandria, LA — $74,540Boulder, CO — $74,630Providence-Warwick, RI-MA — $75,090Fresno, CA — $75,150Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC — $76,330Baton Rouge, LA — $77,020Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA — $78,020Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI — $79,960Milwaukee-Waukesha, WI — $80,470New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ — $81,220San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA — $82,360San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA — $90,850

Each dot is one metro area with a published median — hover any dot for the name and figure. Metros without published estimates are not drawn.

The Washington metro area has the 64th-highest published median for this occupation among the 83 metro areas where BLS publishes it. Higher medians often track higher living costs — this is a pay comparison, not a ranking of where the job is “best”.

Keep exploring

Other occupations in the same SOC group with published medians here, largest employment first:

Engineers, All Other$151,340Civil Engineers$101,780Mechanical Engineers$126,990Electrical Engineers$126,420Architects, Except Landscape and Naval$102,080Electronics Engineers, Except Computer$140,000

Highest-paying metro areas for drafters, all others · Highest-paying occupations in Washington Metro

About this estimate

These figures are survey estimates from the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program — modeled from employer reports collected over three years and benchmarked to May 2025. They describe what employers in this area currently pay across all industries, not what any individual worker will be offered.

Employment counts wage-and-salary jobs in the occupation (self-employed workers are excluded). Estimates carry sampling error; percentile wages are rounded by BLS. Some values are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality or quality — suppressed values appear here as “not published”, never as zero. Read the full methodology.

About this data. Estimates are from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics program, May 2025 release, retrieved from bls.gov/oes/tables.htm on July 24, 2026. OEWS estimates describe metropolitan/nonmetropolitan areas and states — not city limits — and are not designed for year-over-year comparisons. See BLS methodology, our plain-English methodology, and sources. CitySalaryData is independent and not affiliated with BLS.