Compensation and Benefits Managers Salary — Seattle, Washington

The average Compensation and Benefits Managers in Seattle, Washington earns $216,590 a year.

$216,590 / year, mean
↑ 29.4% above national average 100th percentile in Washington

Seattle sits at the very top of the range for this role in Washington — among the highest-paying cities in the state for this occupation. That's a substantial premium — this metro pays far more for compensation and benefits managers than the U.S. average. Cost of living here runs meaningfully above the national average. This is a high-confidence estimate, based on a large sample of reported wages.

Percentile within Washington

0th 50th 100th
Employment (this metro)
340
Estimate confidence
RSE 4.9%
Cost of living 111 #7 most expensive of 188 cities in this dataset 100 = U.S. average · Source: BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024
Crime index 2245 #169 safest of 188 cities in this dataset Per 100k residents · Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer
Median home value $750,279 #12 priciest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: zillow_real
Median household income $112,594 #5 highest of 188 cities in this dataset Source: Census Bureau ACS 5-year

Combining these four figures gives a fuller picture than salary alone: Seattle ranks #7 for cost of living and #12 for home prices among the 188 cities in this pilot dataset, which matters as much as the headline salary number when comparing where to live.

San Jose $227,460 Seattle $216,590 San Francisco $203,270 New York $199,050 Trenton $190,420 Richmond $175,500 Detroit $174,430 Ann Arbor $174,160 Los Angeles $170,430 Portland $166,280 Sacramento $165,740 San Diego $163,260 Salem $162,360 Pittsburgh $161,340 Oxnard $159,650 Chicago $158,850 Philadelphia $157,360 Austin $156,660 Dallas $154,860 Buffalo $154,360 Houston $154,190 Rochester $153,990 Louisville $151,310 Allentown $150,580 Albany $148,870 Grand Rapids $148,110 Harrisburg $144,170 Palm Bay $143,750 Riverside $143,590 Baltimore $143,320 Miami $142,380 Fort Myers $142,110 Jacksonville $137,520 Lakeland $136,030 Sarasota $135,000 Virginia Beach $134,810 Tampa $134,150 Orlando $133,860 San Antonio $132,890 Indianapolis $132,110 El Paso $123,330 Tallahassee $117,970 Deltona $108,310
CityMean salaryvs. Seattle
Albany, New York$148,870-31.3%
Allentown, Pennsylvania$150,580-30.5%
Ann Arbor, Michigan$174,160-19.6%
Austin, Texas$156,660-27.7%
Baltimore, Maryland$143,320-33.8%
Buffalo, New York$154,360-28.7%
Fort Myers, Florida$142,110-34.4%
Chicago, Illinois$158,850-26.7%
Dallas, Texas$154,860-28.5%
Deltona, Florida$108,310-50.0%
Detroit, Michigan$174,430-19.5%
El Paso, Texas$123,330-43.1%
Grand Rapids, Michigan$148,110-31.6%
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania$144,170-33.4%
Houston, Texas$154,190-28.8%
Indianapolis, Indiana$132,110-39.0%
Jacksonville, Florida$137,520-36.5%
Lakeland, Florida$136,030-37.2%
Los Angeles, California$170,430-21.3%
Louisville, Kentucky$151,310-30.1%
Miami, Florida$142,380-34.3%
New York, New York$199,050-8.1%
Sarasota, Florida$135,000-37.7%
Orlando, Florida$133,860-38.2%
Oxnard, California$159,650-26.3%
Palm Bay, Florida$143,750-33.6%
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania$157,360-27.3%
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania$161,340-25.5%
Portland, Oregon$166,280-23.2%
Richmond, Virginia$175,500-19.0%
Riverside, California$143,590-33.7%
Rochester, New York$153,990-28.9%
Sacramento, California$165,740-23.5%
Salem, Oregon$162,360-25.0%
San Antonio, Texas$132,890-38.6%
San Diego, California$163,260-24.6%
San Francisco, California$203,270-6.1%
San Jose, California$227,460+5.0%
Tallahassee, Florida$117,970-45.5%
Tampa, Florida$134,150-38.1%
Trenton, New Jersey$190,420-12.1%
Virginia Beach, Virginia$134,810-37.8%
Gross salary
216,590/yr
Estimated take-home
161,146/yr
Est. total withheld
25.6%

Single filer, federal income tax + FICA only, 2025 rates — Washington has no state income tax on wages. Does not include state-specific payroll withholdings beyond income tax (see Data transparency). Not tax advice — verify with a professional for your specific situation.

View cost of living in this state All Compensation and Benefits Managers salaries in Washington → All Compensation and Benefits Managers salaries →
Data transparency

Sources used for this page

Official occupation and area metadata behind the visible salary, cost, housing and safety signals.

Occupation 11-3111 SOC code
Official area Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA BLS metro/geographic area
Area code 42660 Stable geographic key
Reference year 2025 BLS OEWS
Cost: bea_realHousing: zillow_realCrime: latest availableNet-pay source: wa_dor_verificado 2025
Metro also includes
TacomaBellevue
No additional caveats are attached to this row.
Methodology

How this page is built

The salary figure is the mean annual wage reported by the BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) program for this occupation and metro area. Percentile and national-average comparisons are calculated directly from the 188 cities currently in this dataset, not from a fixed external benchmark. Cost of living, crime and housing figures come from BEA, FBI and Zillow respectively — see "Data transparency" above for the exact sources and reference years used on this specific page.

Confidence: the RSE (relative standard error) shown under Overview indicates how reliable the salary estimate is for this metro — a lower RSE means a larger underlying sample.

On this page

Where this is

AK HI

Highlighted: Washington

Population (metro area)
4,021,467