Dishwashers salary

SOC 35-9021 · BLS OEWS May 2025

Median

$34,810

per year, nationally

Middle half

$29,690–$37,440

25th to 75th percentile

Employed

477,450

in the U.S.

Growth 2024–34

+0.2%

76,800 openings/yr

What the range looks like

A single median hides most of what a job pays. The bar below is the full national range: the wash spans the 10th to 90th percentile, the solid bar is the middle half, and the tick is the median.

$26,200$42,860

10th: $26,200
25th: $29,690
Median: $34,810
75th: $37,440
90th: $42,860

Getting in

Typical education to enter: No formal educational credential
Related work experience: None
On-the-job training: Short-term on-the-job training

Entry requirements describe what is typical, not mandatory. Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2024–34.

Where dishwashers earn the most

Nominal pay and pay adjusted for local prices rank states differently — a high-wage state with high costs can be worse off in real terms than a middling one. Switch between the two below.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	State	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Washington	$40,080	107.0	12,630	1.16×
2	District of Columbia	$38,670	109.9	3,580	1.66×
3	California	$37,870	110.7	74,160	1.33×
4	Colorado	$37,840	103.1	8,500	0.96×
5	Hawaii	$37,740	110.0	4,520	2.35×
6	Massachusetts	$37,190	105.8	14,100	1.26×
7	Illinois	$36,180	100.0	16,250	0.87×
8	Oregon	$36,040	103.4	6,680	1.11×
9	Vermont	$36,010	98.0	1,280	1.38×
10	New Jersey	$35,900	108.8	7,450	0.57×
11	Delaware	$35,780	99.8	1,520	1.02×
12	Maine	$35,620	97.0	2,940	1.49×
13	Connecticut	$35,550	103.6	7,340	1.41×
14	New York	$35,450	107.9	30,680	1.03×
15	Arizona	$35,130	100.7	10,120	1.02×
16	New Hampshire	$34,960	104.2	2,370	1.13×
17	Nevada	$34,920	100.0	11,360	2.39×
18	Minnesota	$34,060	98.6	8,710	0.96×
19	Maryland	$34,030	105.0	9,310	1.10×
20	Rhode Island	$33,960	102.3	2,790	1.81×
21	Alaska	$33,890	102.4	1,300	1.30×
22	Virginia	$33,130	101.1	12,520	0.99×
23	Missouri	$32,150	90.8	7,200	0.80×
24	Utah	$31,830	98.9	3,650	0.68×
25	Michigan	$31,300	96.2	11,510	0.85×
26	Florida	$31,240	103.4	40,480	1.33×
27	Tennessee	$30,530	91.9	7,810	0.78×
28	New Mexico	$30,520	92.2	3,250	1.22×
29	North Carolina	$30,340	94.3	12,050	0.79×
30	Montana	$30,130	94.6	2,120	1.35×
31	North Dakota	$29,980	89.0	800	0.61×
32	Pennsylvania	$29,950	97.6	19,570	1.05×
33	Idaho	$29,920	95.5	2,730	1.04×
34	Nebraska	$29,740	90.1	2,170	0.69×
35	Georgia	$29,730	96.3	11,300	0.75×
36	Texas	$29,610	97.1	33,630	0.78×
37	Wyoming	$29,600	92.7	1,060	1.23×
38	Ohio	$29,520	92.8	14,380	0.84×
39	Indiana	$29,480	93.3	7,000	0.71×
40	Iowa	$29,300	87.8	3,290	0.69×
41	South Carolina	$29,160	93.7	7,550	1.07×
42	Wisconsin	$29,070	94.1	8,190	0.91×
43	Kentucky	$29,060	90.2	4,890	0.80×
44	Alabama	$28,930	88.8	3,540	0.55×
45	South Dakota	$28,190	88.6	1,240	0.88×
46	Kansas	$28,060	90.1	2,480	0.56×
47	Arkansas	$27,540	86.9	2,630	0.66×
48	Oklahoma	$27,390	87.8	4,060	0.77×
49	West Virginia	$26,460	89.5	1,640	0.76×
50	Louisiana	$26,440	88.2	4,210	0.71×
51	Mississippi	$26,300	87.0	2,880	0.81×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. States where dishwashers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Best paying metro areas for dishwashers

The 40 highest-paying metros with a published estimate. BLS suppresses roughly half of all occupation-by-metro cells, so a metro absent here has no local figure rather than a low one.

The median wage as published, before local prices are taken into account.

#	Metro area	Median	Cost of living	Employed	Concentrationvs. national
1	Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$45,930	109.4	800	3.54×
2	San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	$43,960	110.4	3,940	1.13×
3	Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$42,750	111.1	7,910	1.24×
4	San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA	$42,100	115.6	9,530	1.31×
5	Napa, CA	$39,930	112.6	590	2.45×
6	Bremerton-Silverdale-Port Orchard, WA	$38,910	105.6	340	1.19×
7	Santa Rosa-Petaluma, CA	$38,810	107.8	1,160	1.84×
8	Denver-Aurora-Centennial, CO	$38,710	105.8	4,530	0.92×
9	San Diego-Chula Vista-Carlsbad, CA	$38,530	111.9	7,790	1.65×
10	Vallejo, CA	$37,910	108.5	530	1.20×
11	Boulder, CO	$37,750	105.2	540	0.91×
12	Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	$37,750	108.3	10,540	1.27×
13	Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$37,710	102.4	190	1.18×
14	Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	$37,580	113.6	27,520	1.43×
15	Bellingham, WA	$37,430	103.3	310	1.11×
16	Kennewick-Richland, WA	$37,400	100.1	360	0.90×
17	Santa Cruz-Watsonville, CA	$37,380	109.9	510	1.69×
18	Salinas, CA	$37,350	109.0	970	1.70×
19	Amherst Town-Northampton, MA	$37,350	100.2	300	1.51×
20	Santa Maria-Santa Barbara, CA	$37,290	108.8	1,150	1.87×
21	Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	$37,250	105.4	3,580	0.96×
22	Burlington-South Burlington, VT	$37,170	100.9	410	1.11×
23	Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ	$37,110	98.9	890	1.71×
24	Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater, WA	$37,070	103.7	340	0.86×
25	Barnstable Town, MA	$37,030	98.4	700	2.42×
26	Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	$37,010	108.9	11,690	1.21×
27	Sacramento-Roseville-Folsom, CA	$36,930	106.7	4,030	1.21×
28	Longview-Kelso, WA	$36,880	97.5	80	0.61×
29	Bridgeport-Stamford-Danbury, CT	$36,850	106.9	1,960	1.58×
30	Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN	$36,850	103.6	11,910	0.86×
31	Modesto, CA	$36,810	104.1	600	1.01×
32	San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles, CA	$36,760	108.6	850	2.27×
33	Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	$36,710	106.4	6,710	1.27×
34	Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, CA	$36,670	110.5	1,480	1.49×
35	Worcester, MA	$36,660	102.5	1,180	1.10×
36	Bozeman, MT	$36,470	102.5	370	1.68×
37	Portland-South Portland, ME	$36,440	101.9	1,540	1.73×
38	Kiryas Joel-Poughkeepsie-Newburgh, NY	$36,410	109.4	860	1.04×
39	Bend, OR	$36,400	103.6	540	1.63×
40	Urban Honolulu, HI	$36,400	111.0	2,810	2.05×

Cost of living is the BEA regional price parity for all items, where 100 is the national average. Concentration is the BLS location quotient: how much more of the local workforce does this job than the national average, so 2.00× means twice the national share. It is often the reason wages differ — a place that concentrates an occupation has the employers and the competition for it. Metro areas where dishwashers wages are suppressed by BLS for confidentiality are omitted.

Similar occupations

Other jobs in the same field, with what each pays nationally.