District of Columbia · NAICS 54 · Annual, 2025

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services in the District of Columbia

Employment, establishments and average pay for NAICS 54 in the District of Columbia, 2004–2025, from DTG's QCEW-based estimates.

In 2025, Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (NAICS 54) employed about 119,900 people in the District of Columbia across roughly 14,474 establishments, with average annual pay of $194,530.

Employment in Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services in the District of Columbia grew 23.3% from 2004 to 2025. The industry is 2.3× as concentrated in the District of Columbia as in the nation as a whole (location quotient 2.31). Average pay in the industry is 51.0% above the all-industries average in the District of Columbia. Quarterly values, full industry detail and projections to 2036 for the District of Columbia are included with a free account. County-level detail is part of every paid plan, or one county free for seven days.

  • 119,900Employment, 2025
  • 14,474Establishments
  • $194,530Avg. annual pay
  • 16.2%Share of District of Columbia jobs
  • 2.31Location quotient

Employment, 2004 to 2025

Annual average · all ownerships

Employment in Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services in the District of Columbia, 2004–2025Line chart of annual employment from 2004 to 2025, from 97,200 to 119,900.050K100K150K20042010201520202025

Annual employment, 2004–2025: 2004 97,200; 2005 100,900; 2006 103,100; 2007 104,700; 2008 106,700; 2009 104,500; 2010 104,100; 2011 106,600; 2012 110,600; 2013 111,300; 2014 111,900; 2015 115,500; 2016 118,500; 2017 120,300; 2018 122,900; 2019 125,200; 2020 125,700; 2021 125,200; 2022 128,200; 2023 128,300; 2024 125,900; 2025 119,900.

Last ten years

Annual · 10 years

YearEmploymentEstab.Avg. annual payChangeSource
2025119,87714,474$194,530 4.8%pub.
2024125,89314,815$181,916 1.8%pub.
2023128,26314,621$172,749 0.0%pub.
2022128,24713,445$166,027 2.4%est. · 1.00
2021125,22512,084$160,588 0.4%est. · 1.00
2020125,68211,311$150,538 0.4%est. · 1.00
2019125,18710,865$142,818 1.9%est. · 1.00
2018122,90310,551$139,614 2.2%est. · 1.00
2017120,26010,170$135,520 1.5%est. · 1.00
2016118,5289,584$130,378 2.6%est. · 1.00

† Not disclosed in QCEW; DTG estimate.

The full history from 2004 and quarterly values are available with a free account.

Where these numbers come from

Reading these figures

The figures on this page come from one named vintage, stated below, and are annual values for all ownerships combined. Where QCEW withheld a value, the marked figure is an estimate that DTG produced under the constraints of the published record; suppression is a property of QCEW, not of DTG, and a withheld value is marked rather than silently omitted. Two things DTG itself holds back, and says so where it does: an estimate that cannot be given a reliability score is not shown, and average pay is not shown where fewer than three jobs are reported. The row is marked withheld, with the reason in a note beneath the table. The mark is on every row that carries a value: the headline, the yearly history, the subsectors and the other states. An estimated value that rounds below one is shown as less than one, not as zero. Quarterly figures, county figures and projected years are in the app.

How this figure was built

Employment is the average of the three monthly counts in each quarter, averaged across the year, and establishments are averaged across the year the same way. Average annual pay is the year’s total wages divided by that average employment. Each of these is DTG’s value: QCEW’s published figure where QCEW disclosed it, and DTG’s estimate, marked, where it did not. How withheld values are estimated, and what the reliability score beside a figure means, are described on the industry data and disclosure and provenance pages.

Estimated by Data Tactical Group from BLS QCEW, with CES/SAE and projection inputs described in the methodology. Method: Disclosure, Industry.

Notes

Data Tactical Group is an independent company and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any federal agency.

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services in District of Columbia, quarterly, at full depth

This page shows annual figures for professional, scientific, and technical services in District of Columbia. A free account shows every detailed industry beneath it, quarterly, for every state, with projections to ten years. No card.

County figures, file export and the API are on paid plans.