Average Sanitation Worker Salary in Washington D.C., United States for 2025

In this article, we will look at the average Sanitation Worker salary for 2025 in Washington D.C. and how that compares to other countries and professions. We'll also look at interesting salary data points like median salary, 25th and 75th percentile salaries, salary amounts based on experience, bonus ranges and more!

The data in this article has been compiled using official government salary data, salary surveys, and other sources such as job postings which contain salary information.

All salary information is in the local currency, which is the United States dollar. To keep things simple, we are using the USD currency code instead of the currency symbol $.

How Much Does a Sanitation Worker Make in Washington D.C.?

A Sanitation Worker working in Washington D.C. will typically earn around 24,800 USD per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 12,600 USD to the highest average salary of 42,400 USD.

Average Annual Salary24,800 USD
Average Monthly Salary2,066 USD
Average Lowest Salary12,600 USD
Lowest Monthly Salary1,050 USD
Average Highest Salary42,400 USD
Highest Monthly Salary3,533 USD

These are average salaries for a Sanitation Worker in Washington D.C. and include benefits such as housing and transport. It's also possible for a Sanitation Worker to earn more or less than the average salaries shown above.

Sanitation Worker salaries will vary a lot based on your experience, location, skills, and gender. Keep reading below to research more data on each of these areas.

Distribution of Sanitation Worker Salaries in Washington D.C.

So we've looked at the average salaries a Sanitation Worker will earn in Washington D.C.. The next interesting data point is the distribution of salaries.

Salary ranges

We already know that a Sanitation Worker can earn between 12,600 USD and 42,400 USD on average in Washington D.C.. This is known as the range in statistics.

The difference between the maximum and minimum values is a good indicator of variability in salaries, and can be used by employers to figure out how much they can expect to pay, and for employees to know how much they can earn.

Median salary

The median salary for a Sanitation Worker in Washington D.C. is 27,400 USD. This is the middle value in the distribution of salaries.

What this means is that approximately 50% of the population earn less than 27,400 USD, and 50% of the population earn more than 27,400 USD.

If you are earning more than the median salary, that's a good indicator that you are being paid well.

If you're not earning more than the median salary, your objective should be to increase your earnings to be at least as high as the median salary (which you can do by asking for a pay rise, looking for a better paying job, etc).

Percentiles

Percentiles are similar to the median salary, but instead of looking at the middle value, they look at the values in the top and bottom half of the distribution.

For the average Sanitation Worker salary in Washington D.C., 25% of the population are earning less than 19,200 USD while 75% of the population earn more than 19,200 USD.

75% of the population earn less than 36,800 USD, and 25% of the population earn more than 36,800 USD.

Like the median salary, the 25th and 75th percentile salaries can be used to determine which quartile you fall into so that you know whether you are being paid well enough compared to others in your profession and location.

The difference between a median and an average salary

The median and average salary are both indicators you can use to see if you are being paid fairly based on the overall population.

  • If your salary is higher than the average and the median salary, you are earning well compared to others.
  • If your salary is lower than the average and the median salary, it could indicate you are not being paid well enough.
  • If you are somewhere in between then it's tricky to determine if you are being paid well enough and you might need to research more closely.

Sanitation Worker Salary by Experience Level in Washington D.C.

The most important factor in determining your salary after the specific profession is the number of years experience you have. It stands to reason that more years of experience will result in a higher wage.

We have researched the average Sanitation Worker salary based on years of experience to give you an idea of how the average changes once you've worked for a certain amount of time.

  • 0 - 2 Years Experience. A Sanitation Worker in Washington D.C. that has less than two years of experience can expect to earn somewhere in the region of 15,300 USD.
  • 2 - 5 Years Experience. With two to five years of experience the average Sanitation Worker salary would increase to 19,100 USD.
  • 5 - 10 Years Experience. From five to ten years of experience as a Sanitation Worker, the average salary would be 26,500 USD.
  • 10 - 15 Years Experience. Once you have more than ten years of experience the average salary reaches around 33,000 USD.
  • 15 - 20 Years Experience. A Sanitation Worker with 15 to 20 years of experience can earn an average of 36,500 USD.
  • 20+ Years Experience. For a Sanitation Worker with more than 20 years, the expected average salary increases to 39,800 USD.

Average Salary by Experience Chart

0-2 Years-
15,300 USD
2-5 Years+38%
19,100 USD
5-10 Years+42%
26,500 USD
10-15 Years+22%
33,000 USD
15-20 Years+6%
36,500 USD
20+ Years+9%
39,800 USD

Sanitation Worker Salary by Education Level in Washington D.C.

As well as experience in a job, your education plays a big role in how much you can earn. A lot of higher paying positions require a high level of education, but how much can a degree increase your salary?

In our research we have compared the salaries of employees in the same job and career level with different levels of education to see how much more you can earn at each education level.

The salary you can earn based on your education is very specific to both your location and the career path you choose.

In our research, we looked at the average salary for a Sanitation Worker in Washington D.C. based on the education level of the employees in order to find out whether a better education level would increase your salary.

  • High School. A Sanitation Worker in Washington D.C. with a high school education can earn an average salary of 19,300 USD.
  • Certificate or Diploma. A Sanitation Worker in Washington D.C. with a certificate or diploma education can earn an average salary of 30,700 USD.

Average Salary by Education Chart

High School-
19,300 USD
Certificate or Diploma+82%
30,700 USD

How Much is a Master's Degree or MBA Program?

The approximate cost of a master's degree or post-graduate program like an MBA in United States is around 39,500 to 118,000 USD and takes two years to complete.

As you can see above, there are financial benefits from reaching master's degree level, but don't expect to see much of a salary increase until you have completed the degree.

It's common for people to pursue an MBA or other post-graduate program in order to switch to a a job that pays more. On average, you can expect to earn around 10% more when switching to a new company.

Whether you decide to pursue a master's degree depends on many factors. If you are able to afford it, the numbers suggest that the return on investment is worth it and you could recover the costs in a few years from the salary increase you would receive.

Sanitation Worker Salary Compared by Gender

In the modern age, we know that there should never be a pay gap between men and women. Unfortunately, in many professions, there is still a significant difference between the salaries earned by men when compared to the salary of women in the same job.

In Washington D.C., a male sanitation worker will earn an average of 26,900 USD, while a female sanitation worker will earn around 24,200 USD.

This means that a male sanitation worker earns approximately 11% more than a female sanitation worker for performing the same job.

Average Salary by Gender Chart in Washington D.C.

Male-
26,900 USD
Female-11%
24,200 USD

Sanitation Worker Average Pay Raise in Washington D.C.

In many countries, an annual pay raise is often given to employees to reward their service with a salary increase.

From our research, we can see that the average pay raise for a Sanitation Worker in Washington D.C. is around 8% every 19 months.

The national average pay raise across all professions and industries in United States is around 8% every 16 months.

In this case, we can see that the number of months between the average pay raise is higher than the typical 12 months.

To make the data more meaningful, we can calculate what the approximate annual pay raise would be using a simple formula:

Annual Increase = ( Increase Rate ÷ Months ) × 12

So for this example, it would be:

Annual Increase = ( 8 ÷ 19 ) × 12  = 5%

What this means is that a Sanitation Worker in Washington D.C. can expect to receive an average pay raise of around 5% every 12 months.

Annual Pay Raise by Industry in Washington D.C. for 2025

In the chart below, you can see the average annual pay raise percentages for each of the major industries in United States.

You will see that companies in bigger and more lucrative industries tend to have the higher annual pay raises.

Banking-
4%
Energy-
8%
Information Technology-
3%
Healthcare-
7%
Travel-
2%
Construction-
6%
Education-
1%

Sanitation Worker Bonus and Incentive Rates in Washington D.C.

Another part of your overall compensation in a job is how much bonus you receive. Some job roles will be more likely to pay a bonus than others and also more likely to have higher bonus rates.

Generally speaking, jobs that are more involved with direct revenue generation will receive higher bonuses based on the performance towards revenue goals.

A Sanitation Worker is a low bonus based job, with 26% of employees reporting at least one bonus in the last 12 months.

74% reported that they had not received any bonuses in the previous 12 months.

For the employees that did receive a bonus in the previous 12 months, the reported bonuses ranged from 1% to 2%.

Received Bonus-
26%
No Bonus-
74%

What are the Types of Bonus?

There are a number of difference types of bonus you can receive in a job. Including:

  • Individual performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee for general performance in the job. It's the most common type of bonus.
  • Company performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to a company employees to share profit with the staff.
  • Goal based bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee (or a team) for achieving specific goals, objectives, or milestones.
  • Holiday bonus - This type of bonus is usually paid around the holidays, often the end of the year, and is a token of appreciation for the hard work throughout the year.

Government vs Private Sector Salaries

Another commonly asked question is whether you get paid a higher salary working in the public (government) sector or the private sector.

Public sector employees in United States earn approximately 6% more than private sector employees in the same role.

Public Sector-
98,800 USD
Private Sector-6%
93,100 USD

Salaries for Jobs Similar to a Sanitation Worker

In the table below, we have salary information for jobs that are similar to a Sanitation Worker in Washington D.C..

Job TitleCategorySalary
Apartment Assistant ManagerCleaning and Housekeeping39,600 USD
Assistant Director of HousekeepingCleaning and Housekeeping38,700 USD
Assistant Housekeeping ManagerCleaning and Housekeeping40,500 USD
CleanerCleaning and Housekeeping27,300 USD
Cleaning and Housekeeping ManagerCleaning and Housekeeping54,700 USD
Domestic HousekeeperCleaning and Housekeeping27,000 USD
Executive HousekeeperCleaning and Housekeeping27,700 USD
GroundskeeperCleaning and Housekeeping29,600 USD
Head of HousekeepingCleaning and Housekeeping44,300 USD
HousekeeperCleaning and Housekeeping25,800 USD
Housekeeping SupervisorCleaning and Housekeeping35,100 USD
Laundry WorkerCleaning and Housekeeping23,600 USD
Resident ManagerCleaning and Housekeeping52,600 USD

Salary Comparison by City

If you want to compare salaries with different cities in United States, you can use the links below to explore the data for each specific city we have researched.

CityAverage Salary
Atlanta23,100 USD
Austin28,800 USD
Baltimore26,400 USD
Boston27,600 USD
Bristol21,200 USD
Chicago32,200 USD
Cincinnati21,500 USD
Cleveland22,000 USD
Dallas26,500 USD
Denver26,500 USD
Detroit23,700 USD
Honolulu21,100 USD
Houston27,300 USD
Indianapolis29,900 USD
Iowa City20,000 USD
Jacksonville25,500 USD
Kansas City23,600 USD
Kent20,100 USD
Las Vegas24,400 USD
Long Beach26,200 USD
Los Angeles29,400 USD
Memphis25,700 USD
Miami23,500 USD
Minneapolis24,800 USD
New Orleans23,800 USD
New York29,200 USD
Oakland25,300 USD
Oklahoma City27,300 USD
Orlando20,000 USD
Philadelphia29,200 USD
Phoenix29,100 USD
Sacramento23,600 USD
San Antonio26,900 USD
San Diego30,800 USD
San Francisco26,300 USD
San Jose28,900 USD
Seattle29,000 USD
Tampa20,400 USD
Vancouver23,400 USD

Salary Comparison by State

The table below includes links to the average salary for each state in United States.

StateAverage Salary
Alabama24,800 USD
Alaska21,500 USD
Arizona26,200 USD
Arkansas23,600 USD
California29,300 USD
Colorado27,400 USD
Connecticut23,600 USD
Delaware22,200 USD
District of Columbia23,700 USD
Florida26,900 USD
Georgia27,400 USD
Hawaii22,000 USD
Idaho22,000 USD
Illinois29,600 USD
Indiana27,300 USD
Iowa24,800 USD
Kansas24,800 USD
Kentucky26,500 USD
Louisiana26,500 USD
Maine22,200 USD
Maryland24,800 USD
Massachusetts24,800 USD
Michigan26,200 USD
Minnesota27,400 USD
Mississippi22,400 USD
Missouri24,200 USD
Montana21,300 USD
Nebraska23,400 USD
Nevada22,400 USD
New Hampshire23,800 USD
New Jersey27,000 USD
New Mexico22,000 USD
New York26,100 USD
North Carolina27,100 USD
North Dakota25,300 USD
Ohio30,800 USD
Oklahoma26,900 USD
Oregon26,900 USD
Pennsylvania29,100 USD
Rhode Island24,800 USD
South Carolina26,100 USD
South Dakota24,800 USD
Tennessee29,900 USD
Texas30,100 USD
Utah27,400 USD
Vermont23,300 USD
Virginia27,400 USD
Washington29,300 USD
West Virginia24,400 USD
Wisconsin29,600 USD
Wyoming23,100 USD

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