Law Clerk salary in Washington, DC

Based on 48 certified H-1B filings in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metro area, FY2025–FY2026. Includes Ashburn, Frederick, Mclean, Fairfax, Alexandria.

Also listed as: Judicial Law Clerk

Median salary$68,100
Middle 50%$60.9k–$96.3k
vs. national median−3%comparison median $70,000
Filings48FY2025–FY2026 · latest two fiscal years

Salary range

Box: middle 50% of filings. Whiskers: 10th–90th percentile. 99% of filings are between $55,266 and $225,000.
PercentileSalary
10th$55,780
25th$60,880
50th (median)$68,100
75th$96,250
90th$158,000

Salary by year

Median salary

$40k $60k $80k FY2020: median $65,000 (20 filings) FY2021: median $60,000 (24 filings) FY2022: median $55,453 (19 filings) FY2023: median $56,890 (24 filings) FY2024: median $58,704 (28 filings) FY2025: median $65,000 (26 filings) FY2026: median $72,966 (22 filings) FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24 FY25 FY26

Filings per year

FY2020: 20 filings FY20 FY2021: 24 filings FY21 FY2022: 19 filings FY22 FY2023: 24 filings FY23 FY2024: 28 filings FY24 FY2025: 26 filings FY25 FY2026: 22 filings FY26 28
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$65,000$41,978$104,37520
FY2021$60,000$54,150$79,41124
FY2022$55,453$50,000$67,37419
FY2023$56,890$53,394$65,00024
FY2024$58,704$50,459$67,86028
FY2025$65,000$62,292$92,12526
FY2026$72,966$60,293$96,25022

Cost of living

Washington's median Law Clerk salary of $68,100 is worth about $62,500 at national average prices.

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

Compared with all workers here

All Judicial Law Clerks in the Washington, DC area earned a median of $70,110 in May 2025 (160 employed). The H-1B median here is $68,100, 3% 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
Somireddy Law Group PLLCtoo few4
Wasserman, Mancini & Chang, P.C.too few4
Gibson, Dunn & Crutchertoo few3
Centre Law & Consultingtoo few2
Holon Law Partnerstoo few2
Konare Law PLLCtoo few2
Semaisim Immigration Law Office PLLCtoo few2

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

By experience level

Wage levelMedianFilings
Entry-level · Level I $57,179 15
Mid-level · Level II $65,000 13
Senior · Level III too few 3
Expert · Level IV $104,000 11

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$55,266$57,17915
Mid-level · Level II$63,170$65,00013
Expert · Level IV$72,966$104,00011

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.