Women find top jobs and top salaries in nation’s capital region

December 11, 2009; Washington, DC – The Greater Washington, DC region is the place to be if you’re a woman looking for a good job and generous wages.

Together with recently released national rankings, new research by the Greater Washington Initiative shows that Greater Washington’s population and labor force are remarkably diverse and highly-educated.   

Greater Washington ranks first among the top ten major metropolitan areas in the nation for educational attainment, with 22 percent of the region’s workforce having a graduate or professional degree, and 47 percent having a Bachelor’s degree.  Greater Washington also has the highest percentage in the U.S. of women aged 25 or older with a Bachelor’s or advanced degree, at 44.9 percent, fully 18.2 percent higher than the national average of 26.7 percent.  

High educational attainment for women in Greater Washington means they are poised to take on the region’s top jobs.  So it is not surprising that Greater Washington has the highest proportion of female workers in executive positions than any major metropolitan region in the U.S.  For every 100,000 female workers in Greater Washington, 1,213 are in executive or managerial positions, or 1.2 percent.  This is 56 percent higher than the national average.

And it pays to be a highly educated woman in Greater Washington.  The region ranks No. 1 among major metropolitan areas in median earnings for the female population over 25 years.  In Greater Washington, median earnings for women are $42,650. This is 52 percent more than the national median earnings for women ($28,100).  Even more impressive, women in Greater Washington earn 23 percent more than the median earnings of all workers (men and women) nationwide 25 years or older ($34,500).

In addition, among women 25 or older in the Greater Washington region, 9.9 percent earn more than $100,000 annually.  Nationally, just 3.2 percent of women earn more than $100,000 each year.

Forbes recently released its Top-Earning States for Women ranking.  At the top of the list is Washington, DC, where women make an average of $866 a week.  The State of Maryland came in second, with women earning $774 per week.  On average in the U.S., women make 80 percent of men's earnings; in Washington, DC women earn 92.2 percent as much as their male colleagues.

“The diversity of Greater Washington’s economy and its workforce represents the model for sustainable growth in large metropolitan areas,” says Matt Erskine, executive director of the Greater Washington Initiative.  “The fact that women in Greater Washington are highly educated, hold executive positions in both public and private sector enterprises, and are compensated better than anywhere else in the country is a testament to Greater Washington’s progressiveness and makes it extremely attractive to companies considering location options.”

Click here to view testimonials of Greater Washington’s women executives and hear directly from them why this region is a great place to do business and why women thrive here.

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