ClearanceJobs.com, an Internet-based job board for professionals with active U.S. government security clearances, announced the results of its annual Security Clearance Jobs Salary Survey.  According to the survey, cleared defense industry workers reported average nationwide salaries of US$72,803, 6 percent higher than the 2007 published results of US$68,139.

Average salaries in the largest area for security-cleared employment, metropolitan Washington, D.C., continue to be the highest, at US$80,380, and saw a 2 percent gain from the previous survey in 2007.  Within that area, though, are some of the largest salary gains for any region in the country.  Crystal City, Virginia, with its close proximity to the Pentagon, had a 19 percent increase in reported salaries in the past year, the largest gain in the area.  Arlington county gained 10 percent, the second largest gain.  Massachusetts, which has experienced a rapid influx of defense-related jobs, had a 9.7 percent increase, the largest of any single state.

Candidates with Top Secret and higher clearances earned, as expected, the highest average salaries, with gains of approximately 6 percent.  However, candidates with lower levels of security clearances reported a 12 percent jump in salary indicating their viability in the market.

Security clearance jobs continue to pay better than their closest equivalent non-cleared counterparts.  Among the 20 highest paid job categories, security-cleared candidates earn an average of US$19,138, or 22 percent, more than their closest non-cleared peers.

"This is a job seekers market.  With the quantity of qualified candidates in much shorter supply than the number of open jobs, wages for cleared candidates are expected to continue rising," said Evan Lesser, Director and founder of ClearanceJobs.com.  "Salaries increased for other reasons as well, including the shift of workers to higher-paying areas geographically as a result of the governments Base Realignment and Closure Act as well as the ongoing backlog of candidates awaiting clearance."

Other key findings of the survey include:

• Government contractors are earning an average of 22 percent higher salaries than their government employee counterparts.
• Security-cleared jobs provide more equitable pay between men and women than non-security-cleared jobs. Women with security clearances earn about 89 cents to every dollar cleared men earn compared to non-cleared women who earn 77 cents to every dollar non-cleared men earn.
• Cleared candidates who have passed Polygraph exams earn approximately 15 percent more per year on average than cleared candidates who have not.
• Cleared candidates job satisfaction remains mostly high, primarily due to optimism about growth of the U.S. defense industry and relative confidence in job security.

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