Jobs and pay in Virginia

The highest-paying occupations in Virginia

Sorted by median annual wage — the midpoint of what people in the occupation are paid in this state, not what a newcomer earns. Occupations BLS did not release a wage for are absent rather than shown as zero.

1 further occupation is paid more than every figure below, but BLS publishes it only as $239,200 or more, its reporting cap: emergency medicine physicians. They cannot be ranked against each other, so they are named here rather than listed as identical rows.

1. Anesthesiologists$488,310
2. Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric$478,710
3. Cardiologists$461,450
4. Oral and maxillofacial surgeons$403,430
5. Radiologists$376,270
6. Surgeons, all other$360,510
7. Chief executives$310,740
8. Psychiatrists$295,010
9. Obstetricians and gynecologists$282,410
10. Dermatologists$280,060
11. Physicians, all other$278,530
12. Nurse anesthetists$252,110
13. Physicians, pathologists$240,780
14. Family medicine physicians$222,630
15. Computer and information systems managers$201,490
16. Dentists, general$197,110
17. Pediatricians, general$195,940
18. Air traffic controllers$191,820
19. Sales managers$191,130
20. Marketing managers$187,820
21. Financial managers$185,220
22. Legal support workers, all other$179,960
23. Ophthalmologists, except pediatric$177,410
24. Public relations managers$176,340
25. Architectural and engineering managers$176,160

Where the jobs actually are in Virginia

The same list sorted by how many people are employed in each occupation, which is a different question from what it pays and usually a more useful one. High pay in an occupation employing 400 people statewide is a narrower opportunity than it looks.

1. Fast food and counter workers104,460 employed
2. General and operations managers103,590 employed
3. Retail salespersons100,290 employed
4. Software developers88,280 employed
5. Cashiers83,890 employed
6. Registered nurses77,490 employed
7. Home health and personal care aides70,070 employed
8. Stockers and order fillers69,660 employed
9. Office clerks, general66,550 employed
10. Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners65,970 employed
11. Customer service representatives59,850 employed
12. Management analysts59,620 employed
13. Waiters and waitresses59,370 employed
14. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand58,000 employed
15. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers48,750 employed
16. Accountants and auditors47,100 employed
17. Business operations specialists, all other45,160 employed
18. Project management specialists43,860 employed
19. Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services, and travel41,390 employed
20. Nursing assistants40,580 employed
21. Cooks, restaurant40,310 employed
22. Elementary school teachers, except special education37,880 employed
23. First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers35,160 employed
24. Security guards34,870 employed
25. Maintenance and repair workers, general34,540 employed

The best-paid Virginia work that typically needs no bachelor's degree

Occupations BLS reports as typically entered with an associate's degree, a postsecondary certificate, some college, a high-school diploma, or no formal credential — sorted by what they pay here. Typical is not a requirement, individual employers set their own, and many of these carry state licensing that the national figure does not capture.

1. Air traffic controllers$191,820 · Associate's degree
2. Legal support workers, all other$179,960 · Associate's degree
3. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers$119,140 · High school diploma or equivalent
4. Media and communication equipment workers, all other$117,640 · High school diploma or equivalent
5. Detectives and criminal investigators$112,760 · High school diploma or equivalent
6. Artists and related workers, all other$111,530 · No formal educational credential
7. Elevator and escalator installers and repairers$108,250 · High school diploma or equivalent
8. Commercial pilots$104,890 · Postsecondary nondegree award
9. Radiation therapists$103,310 · Associate's degree
10. Dental hygienists$102,950 · Associate's degree
11. Nuclear medicine technologists$101,820 · Associate's degree
12. First-line supervisors of police and detectives$101,230 · High school diploma or equivalent
13. Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay$99,390 · Postsecondary nondegree award
14. Nuclear technicians$98,930 · Associate's degree
15. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists$98,640 · Associate's degree
16. Engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other$98,410 · Associate's degree
17. First-line supervisors of non-retail sales workers$98,170 · High school diploma or equivalent
18. First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers$97,780 · Postsecondary nondegree award
19. Diagnostic medical sonographers$95,660 · Associate's degree
20. Signal and track switch repairers$95,620 · High school diploma or equivalent
21. Postmasters and mail superintendents$94,790 · High school diploma or equivalent
22. Locomotive engineers$90,780 · High school diploma or equivalent
23. Drilling and boring machine tool setters, operators, and tenders, metal and plastic$90,390 · High school diploma or equivalent
24. Electrical and electronics installers and repairers, transportation equipment$87,860 · Postsecondary nondegree award
25. Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels$87,610 · Postsecondary nondegree award

A certificate is a different credential from a degree, not a lesser one. CampusPin publishes the national picture of pay by entry education and which fields are actually awarded as certificates rather than degrees.

What Virginia does more of than the rest of the country

Location quotient: this occupation's share of Virginia employment divided by its share of U.S. employment. 2.0 means twice as concentrated here as nationally. It describes where the work IS — not what it pays, and not how easy it is to be hired. Limited to occupations employing at least 500 people in the state, so a tiny base cannot manufacture a large ratio.

Layout workers, metal and plastic lead, much more concentrated here than nationally.

Other states