For information technology professionals, it pays handsomely to have a government security clearance, with salaries averaging 22 percent more than IT workers in jobs that don't require security clearance.
Jobs site ClearanceJobs.com says the best-paying security-cleared jobs are in the Washington area.
Those types of jobs average $80,380 per year in the area, up 2 percent from a year ago. The biggest gains in security-cleared job salaries has been Crystal City, Va., up nearly 19 percent from a year go to $90,714. The highest-paid security-cleared jobs are in Herndon, Va., averaging $94,118.
"This is a job seeker's market," said Evan Lesser, founder of ClearanceJobs.com. "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."
Outside of the Washington area, Massachusetts, which has experienced a rapid influx of defense-related jobs, had a 9.7 percent increase in salaries, the largest of any single state.
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