District of Columbia prevailing wage
State law, federal determinations, and how to find the rate that applies
- District of Columbia has no state prevailing-wage law - only the federal Davis-Bacon Act applies, on federally funded construction over $2,000.
- The U.S. Department of Labor has 3 active federal Davis-Bacon wage determinations covering 1 District of Columbia county as of (latest revision date), each setting county rates by trade for federally funded construction.
- Market context: the average private construction worker in District of Columbia earned $2,061/week (≈ $51.52/hour) in Q4 2024, rank #2 of 51 states, per the BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages - an industry average, not a prevailing-wage rate.
No separate DC prevailing-wage statute — the federal Davis-Bacon Act by its own terms covers District of Columbia government construction contracts over $2,000.
How to find the required rate
- State or locally funded project: no state prevailing-wage requirement - check any local ordinances and the funding source.
- Federally funded project: find the county in the District of Columbia determination index and open the official SAM.gov document for your construction type.
- Read the classification line - base rate plus fringe (how to read a determination); compute totals and overtime with the calculator.
Federal determinations at a glance
Building: 1 · Heavy: 1 · Highway: 1 · Residential: 1 - every determination and the counties it covers are listed in the District of Columbia wage-determination index, each with its full rate schedule mirrored. Service contracts: 5 active SCA determinations for District of Columbia.
Recently revised determinations
- DC20260001 (rev 6) - modified , Heavy, Highway
What construction actually pays here
Separate from any required rate: BLS data puts the average private construction wage in District of Columbia at $2,061/week (+8.6% YoY) in Q4 2024 - details and history on District of Columbia construction wages.
Learn the system
What a prevailing wage is · The Davis-Bacon Act · Certified payroll · Fringe calculator
Data on this page is from U.S. government public-domain sources - free to reuse with credit and a link to prevailingwageindex.com.