Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services · District of Columbia

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services in District of Columbia

NAICS 5416 · Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023

Benchmarking Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services in District of Columbia

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (NAICS 5416) in District of Columbia reports 31,528 workers across 1,554 establishments, with $4.7B of aggregate annual payroll flowing through Census CBP 2023 filings. That represents 1.8% of national employment for this industry — a concentration ratio that tells you whether District of Columbia is a primary labor market for this NAICS code or a smaller satellite. A share above 5% signals a meaningful regional cluster; below 1% usually means the state is not a structural fit for this industry at scale.

Wage benchmarking is where state-level data earns its keep. The average annual compensation for Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services employees in District of Columbia is $148,322/yr, versus a national average of $106,100/yr. District of Columbia pays above the national average for this industry, which usually reflects higher skill concentration, union density, or regional cost of living.

Profitability data is only available at the national level because the IRS Statistics of Income program does not publish state-level margin breakdowns. The national net profit margin for Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services is 15.0%, and while margins do vary by state, the direction of variance usually follows labor cost and establishment size — both shown above. For a complete picture, pair this state-industry view with the Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services national page (entity structure, SBA lending, sub-industries) and the District of Columbia overview (top employers, payroll dispersion across industries).

Employment

31,528

Establishments

1,554

Annual Payroll

$4.7B

Avg Payroll/Employee

$148,322/yr

Compare to National Average

Profit Margin (National)

15.0% National

National avg — IRS SOI (no state-level profit data)

Avg Payroll/Employee

$148,322/yr District of Columbia
$106,100/yr National

District of Columbia vs National avg

Employment

31,528 District of Columbia
1,736,343 National

District of Columbia share of national

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services businesses are in District of Columbia?
There are 1,554 Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (NAICS 5416) establishments in District of Columbia, according to Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 data. These establishments employ 31,528 workers.
What is the average payroll for Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services in District of Columbia?
The average annual payroll per employee for Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services in District of Columbia is $148,322/yr. The national average for this industry is $106,100/yr. This data comes from the Census Bureau County Business Patterns 2023 survey.
How does District of Columbia compare nationally for Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services?
District of Columbia accounts for 1.8% of national employment in Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services, with 31,528 of 1,736,343 total US workers in this industry. The national profit margin for this industry is 15.0% (state-level profit data is not available from Census).
What is the profit margin for Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services?
The national net profit margin for Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services is 15.0%, based on IRS Statistics of Income data. Note that state-level profit margin data is not available from Census Bureau sources — this figure reflects the nationwide average across all business entities.
Disclaimer: PlainBizBench provides publicly available IRS and Census data for informational purposes only. This is not financial, tax, or business advice. Consult a qualified accountant or financial advisor for business-specific guidance.
Source: Census Bureau County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023 · NAICS 5416 · DC

Related

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainBizBench Editorial

Source: U.S. Census Bureau — County Business Patterns / SUSB Industry employment scale, payroll, and firm-size benchmarks · 2025

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