Engineering Director salary in Washington, DC

Based on 35 certified H-1B filings in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area, FY2025–FY2026. Includes Herndon, Manassas, Rockville, Chantilly, Monrovia.

Also listed as: Architectural and Engineering Manager, Manager Hardware Engineering

Median salary$173,635
Middle 50%$150.9k–$197.2k
vs. national median−5%comparison median $182,728
Filings35FY2025–FY2026 · latest two fiscal years

Salary range

Box: middle 50% of filings. Whiskers: 10th–90th percentile. 99% of filings are between $131,875 and $272,037.
PercentileSalary
10th$141,214
25th$150,896
50th (median)$173,635
75th$197,153
90th$212,472

Salary by year

Median salary

$120k $160k $200k FY2020: median $144,482 (22 filings) FY2021: median $138,747 (14 filings) FY2022: median $143,500 (17 filings) FY2023: median $148,097 (22 filings) FY2024: median $148,247 (20 filings) FY2025: median $164,000 (21 filings) FY2026: median $188,334 (14 filings) FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

Filings per year

FY2020: 22 filings FY20 FY2021: 14 filings FY21 FY2022: 17 filings FY22 FY2023: 22 filings FY23 FY2024: 20 filings FY24 FY2025: 21 filings FY25 FY2026: 14 filings FY26 22
Shaded: FY2025–FY2026, the years behind the figures above. Median shown for years with at least 10 filings. FY2026 covers Q1–Q3 only.
Show as table
Fiscal yearMedianP25P75Filings
FY2020$144,482$139,137$157,88222
FY2021$138,747$126,876$144,83114
FY2022$143,500$120,253$170,00017
FY2023$148,097$125,210$179,59622
FY2024$148,247$143,621$178,20620
FY2025$164,000$151,792$190,00021
FY2026$188,334$155,909$212,11214

Cost of living

Washington's median Engineering Director salary of $173,635 is worth about $159,500 at national average prices.

Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024 (U.S. = 100; Washington = 108.9).

Compared with all workers here

All Architectural and Engineering Managers in the Washington, DC area earned a median of $185,220 in May 2025 (5,500 employed). The H-1B median here is $173,635, 6% lower.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS metropolitan area estimates. BLS wages include some incentive pay; H-1B figures are base salary.

Top employers filing

EmployerMedianFilings
Electra.aerotoo few2
Hughes Network Systemstoo few2
STE iDirecttoo few2

Employers with at least 2 filings here. Median shown at 10+ filings.

By experience level

Wage levelMedianFilings
Entry-level · Level I $148,108 10
Mid-level · Level II $168,350 10
Senior · Level III too few 2
Expert · Level IV $208,043 10

Median shown when a level has at least 10 filings.

Minimum H-1B salary by level

Wage levelPrevailing wage (most common)Median offered salaryFilings
Entry-level · Level I$131,810$148,10810
Mid-level · Level II$153,442$168,35010
Expert · Level IV$206,086$208,04310

The prevailing wage is the minimum an employer must pay for this job and area. Amounts vary by county within a metro and by wage source.