Jobs and pay in West Virginia

The highest-paying occupations in West 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. Orthopedic surgeons, except pediatric$597,740
2. Emergency medicine physicians$491,230
3. Radiologists$471,650
4. Surgeons, all other$468,210
5. Physicians, pathologists$400,070
6. Obstetricians and gynecologists$300,810
7. Nurse anesthetists$278,530
8. Family medicine physicians$272,680
9. Physicians, all other$258,020
10. Dentists, all other specialists$235,370
11. Podiatrists$207,000
12. Dentists, general$170,370
13. Pediatricians, general$158,470
14. Chief executives$151,950
15. Architectural and engineering managers$149,430
16. Purchasing managers$147,220
17. Computer and information systems managers$139,820
18. Natural sciences managers$138,010
19. Sales engineers$135,260
20. Pharmacists$133,430
21. Chemical engineers$129,210
22. Veterinarians$128,990
23. Physician assistants$128,610
24. Nurse practitioners$127,320
25. Managers, all other$124,940

Where the jobs actually are in West 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. Registered nurses23,430 employed
2. Retail salespersons19,050 employed
3. Home health and personal care aides18,890 employed
4. Cashiers17,360 employed
5. Cooks, fast food16,490 employed
6. General and operations managers15,300 employed
7. Stockers and order fillers12,520 employed
8. Heavy and tractor-trailer truck drivers12,190 employed
9. Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand11,300 employed
10. Customer service representatives9,860 employed
11. Office clerks, general9,430 employed
12. Nursing assistants9,390 employed
13. Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners9,340 employed
14. Secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical, and executive8,820 employed
15. Waiters and waitresses8,600 employed
16. Maintenance and repair workers, general8,060 employed
17. Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators7,830 employed
18. Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks7,620 employed
19. First-line supervisors of retail sales workers7,420 employed
20. First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers6,900 employed
21. Construction laborers6,620 employed
22. Cooks, restaurant6,450 employed
23. First-line supervisors of food preparation and serving workers6,390 employed
24. Fast food and counter workers6,240 employed
25. Maids and housekeeping cleaners6,110 employed

The best-paid West 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. Commercial pilots$105,950 · Postsecondary nondegree award
2. Power distributors and dispatchers$101,960 · High school diploma or equivalent
3. Artists and related workers, all other$101,400 · No formal educational credential
4. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers$98,230 · High school diploma or equivalent
5. Electrical and electronics repairers, powerhouse, substation, and relay$97,600 · Postsecondary nondegree award
6. Power plant operators$97,210 · High school diploma or equivalent
7. Postmasters and mail superintendents$96,260 · High school diploma or equivalent
8. Detectives and criminal investigators$92,410 · High school diploma or equivalent
9. Rail yard engineers, dinkey operators, and hostlers$91,380 · High school diploma or equivalent
10. Telecommunications line installers and repairers$89,690 · High school diploma or equivalent
11. Electrical and electronic engineering technologists and technicians$85,440 · Associate's degree
12. Captains, mates, and pilots of water vessels$85,290 · Postsecondary nondegree award
13. Petroleum pump system operators, refinery operators, and gaugers$83,910 · High school diploma or equivalent
14. Electrical power-line installers and repairers$83,810 · High school diploma or equivalent
15. Gas plant operators$82,600 · High school diploma or equivalent
16. Chemical plant and system operators$81,710 · High school diploma or equivalent
17. Occupational health and safety technicians$81,470 · High school diploma or equivalent
18. Engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other$81,330 · Associate's degree
19. Magnetic resonance imaging technologists$80,490 · Associate's degree
20. First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers$80,060 · High school diploma or equivalent
21. Roof bolters, mining$79,400 · High school diploma or equivalent
22. Control and valve installers and repairers, except mechanical door$79,000 · High school diploma or equivalent
23. Continuous mining machine operators$77,570 · No formal educational credential
24. Title examiners, abstractors, and searchers$77,230 · High school diploma or equivalent
25. Helpers--extraction workers$77,180 · High school diploma or equivalent

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 West Virginia does more of than the rest of the country

Location quotient: this occupation's share of West 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.

Roof bolters, mining lead, much more concentrated here than nationally.

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