Average Bartenders Salary in Bellingham, WA

Bartenders in Bellingham, WA earn a median annual salary of $56,110, which is +63.4% compared to the national median. There are 600 workers employed locally in this occupation.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey, May 2025 estimates for Bellingham, WA (metro area).

$56,110

Bellingham, WA median annual wage

$27/hour median

+63.4%

Difference vs national median

National median is $34,340

600

Local employment

6.5 jobs per 1,000 workers

1.34

Location quotient

Above 1.00 means the occupation is more concentrated here than nationally

Pay distribution

Local wage range

10th: $44,060
25th: $47,600
Median: $56,110
75th: $60,050
90th: $79,690

All values are percentiles of annual wages.

This local range is the useful part of the page. The median tells you the center of the market in Bellingham, WA, while the percentile band shows how compressed or wide the local pay distribution actually is.

Regional price parity

Cost-of-living context

All-items regional price parity

103.3%

Exact metro RPP match

Median wage adjusted to the national price level

$54,300

Goods: 105.0%
Services: 99.9%
Rents: 112.9%

Comparison links

Comparable metros for this occupation

Metro	Median annual wage	Compare	Employment
Kahului-Wailuku, HI	$86,280	Compare	800
Urban Honolulu, HI	$75,340	Compare	2,130
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ	$61,220	Compare	38,510
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	$58,180	Compare	9,640
Mount Vernon-Anacortes, WA	$56,640	Compare	270
Kennewick-Richland, WA	$55,820	Compare	600

The point of this table is not random nearby places. It is to show the other labor markets where this same occupation looks stronger or weaker on the same OEWS release.

Area context

Top occupations in Bellingham, WA

Occupation	Median annual wage	LQ
Chief Executives	$236,930	0.54
Architectural And Engineering Managers	$193,360	0.64
Computer And Information Systems Managers	$169,640	0.48
Education Administrators, Kindergarten Through Secondary	$169,470	0.91
Dentists, General	$168,030	1.21
Physician Assistants	$161,260	1.26
Financial Managers	$158,960	0.50
Construction Managers	$156,580	0.92

Bellingham, WA has salary data for 324 occupations. The highest-paid occupation in this area is Chief Executives.

Historical series

Trend for Bartenders in Bellingham, WA

Historical trend data is not yet available for this occupation in this area.

Interpretation

Outlook and page notes

Nationally, Bartenders are projected to change by +5.9% from 2024 to 2034, with 129,600 annual openings.

Use this page to answer three separate questions: what the occupation pays here, how large the local market is, and whether this market is unusually concentrated for the occupation.

For metro pages in particular, read long-term trend rows as directional until the area comparability layer is fully wired. OEWS area definitions can change over time, and that matters more at the metro level than at the state level.