What Driver/Sales Workers earn in District of Columbia, DC
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $38,790: the median annual pay for Driver/Sales Workers in District of Columbia, DC. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $18.65 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $41,750, which is 7.6% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 9,000 people working in this occupation across the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. District of Columbia, DC has roughly 681,294 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Driver/Sales Workers in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $31,200 a year ($15.00 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $57,650 or more ($27.72 an hour). That is a gap of $26,450 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $31,770 at the 25th percentile and $48,160 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.8 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Driver/Sales Workers in District of Columbia, DC is $18.65. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $38,790, and the same salary is $3,233 a month before taxes or about $1,492 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $15.42 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Driver/Sales Workers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Driver/Sales Workers this way: "Drive truck or other vehicle over established routes or within an established territory and sell or deliver goods, such as food products, including restaurant take-out items, or pick up or deliver items such as commercial laundry. May also take orders, collect payment, or stock merchandise at point of delivery."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Collect money from customers, make change, and record transactions on customer receipts"; "Listen to and resolve customers' complaints regarding products or services"; "Inform regular customers of new products or services and price changes"; "Drive trucks to deliver such items as food, medical supplies, or newspapers".
Job outlook for Driver/Sales Workers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 442,900 jobs in 2025 to 478,100 in 2035, a change of +7.9%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 45,500 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 10.3% of current employment each year. About 7.3% of the people in this occupation are self-employed, and wage figures cover wage and salary workers only.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $38,770 for this occupation; the District of Columbia, DC median of $38,790 is 0.1% above it.
How pay in District of Columbia, DC compares
Compared with the District of Columbia average
Pay for Driver/Sales Workers in District of Columbia, DC is in line with the statewide figure: $38,790 locally against an employment-weighted District of Columbia average of $38,790, a difference of only $0 (0.0%).
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Driver/Sales Workers is $37,844 across the contiguous United States. At $38,790, District of Columbia, DC pays $946 more, which is 2.5% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in District of Columbia, DC
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in District of Columbia, DC, Driver/Sales Workers ranks number 580 by median pay, ahead of about 6% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $195,190 a year, which is $156,400 more than the median for Driver/Sales Workers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $38,790 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $6,721 a year, which leaves $32,069, or $2,672 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $17 goes to taxes and $83 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 17.3%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $23,040. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $2,526, an effective 6.5% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,405 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $562. FICA totals $2,967, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in District of Columbia
District of Columbia income tax on this salary is $1,227 a year, or 3.2% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 49% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $102 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for District of Columbia, DC
IRS Statistics of Income data for District of Columbia, DC show an average adjusted gross income of $143,628 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 19.0% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.2%, compared with the 6.5% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in District of Columbia, DC
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in District of Columbia, DC: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $32,069 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in District of Columbia, DC is $2,204 a month, or $26,448 a year. A two-bedroom costs $2,438 a month. For Driver/Sales Workers, a one-bedroom absorbs 82.5% of take-home pay and 68.2% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 8.9% of gross pay for Driver/Sales Workers in District of Columbia, DC. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using District of Columbia residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,871 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $653, for $2,524 in total. Gasoline in District of Columbia averages $3.48 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,611.
What is left over
The basics cost $34,019 a year in District of Columbia, DC, but take-home pay for Driver/Sales Workers is $32,069. That is a shortfall of $1,950 a year, or $163 a month, before health care, transportation beyond fuel, debt or savings. Closing the gap would take roughly 126 extra paid hours a year at the take-home hourly rate of $15.42, or a second earner, a cheaper home or a roommate.
Local housing and commute data for District of Columbia, DC
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in District of Columbia, DC: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for District of Columbia, DC, set beside the District of Columbia and national medians.
Property taxes in District of Columbia, DC
Homeowners in District of Columbia, DC pay a median of $4,312 a year in real estate taxes, in line with the District of Columbia median of $4,312 and 38% above the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $737,100, the median tax bill is 0.58% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Driver/Sales Workers median of $38,790, a tax bill of that size would equal 11.1% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in District of Columbia, DC
Renters in District of Columbia, DC pay a median gross rent of $1,954 a month in the Census survey, in line with the District of Columbia median of $1,954. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $2,204 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $737,100, in line with the District of Columbia median of $737,100. Median household income is $109,870, in line with the District of Columbia median of $109,870, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 24.1% of that income.
Commuting in District of Columbia, DC
Workers in District of Columbia, DC who travel to a workplace spend an average of 30.0 minutes each way, in line with the District of Columbia average of 30.0. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.0 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 33.0% of workers in District of Columbia, DC work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Driver/Sales Workers afford to live in District of Columbia, DC?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $38,790 that ceiling is $970 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,204 is $1,234 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $42.38 an hour; the median for Driver/Sales Workers is $18.65, which is 56% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $15.42 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 33.0 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,438 a month means $1,219 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $11,820 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $9,870, which turns the shortfall into a surplus.
How fast you can save
With no monthly margin after the four basics, saving requires a change on one side of the ledger: higher pay than the $38,790 median, lower housing costs than the $2,204 one-bedroom rent, or a second income.
Frequently asked questions about Driver/Sales Workers pay in District of Columbia, DC
What is the hourly wage for Driver/Sales Workers in District of Columbia, DC?
The median is $18.65 per hour, based on $38,790 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $15.00 at the 10th percentile to $27.72 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Driver/Sales Workers in District of Columbia, DC?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $38,790 becomes $32,069 a year. That is $2,672 a month, $1,233 every two weeks or $617 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Driver/Sales Workers in District of Columbia, DC?
Total taxes are $6,721 a year, an effective rate of 17.3%: $2,526 federal income tax, $2,967 FICA and $1,227 District of Columbia income tax.
Is pay for Driver/Sales Workers in District of Columbia, DC above the District of Columbia average?
It is about the same. The local median of $38,790 is within 0.0% of the District of Columbia average of $38,790.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Driver/Sales Workers salary in District of Columbia, DC?
A one-bedroom costs $2,204 a month against take-home pay of $2,672, which is 82.5% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $970 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Driver/Sales Workers in District of Columbia, DC?
Nothing remains: the basics cost $34,019 a year, which is $1,950 more than take-home pay, a monthly shortfall of $163.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in District of Columbia, DC at the 30% guideline?
$42.38 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $26,448 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Driver/Sales Workers is $18.65.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the District of Columbia rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.