Occupational profile · 2025
Virginia
Virginia employs 4,109,320 people. The work it does most unusually is layout workers, metal and plastic, at 6.8× the national concentration — 1,080 jobs paying a median of $70,260.
What Virginia is distinctive for
Detailed occupations ranked by location quotient. A location quotient is an occupation’s share of a state’s jobs divided by its share of the nation’s. One means the state looks like the country; two means twice the concentration. It is a measure of distinctiveness, not of quality, size or pay. Bars use a logarithmic scale so the lower ranks stay legible beside the leader.
- 1Layout Workers, Metal and Plastic1,080 jobs · median $70,2606.8×
- 2Ship Engineers1,450 jobs · median $82,3706.5×
- 3Information Security Analysts19,120 jobs · median $134,9003.8×
- 4Computer and Information Research Scientists3,590 jobs · median $157,3903.6×
- 5Sailors and Marine Oilers2,970 jobs · median $49,1203.5×
- 6Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other3,380 jobs · median $140,6703.5×
- 7Riggers1,920 jobs · median $63,6203.2×
- 8Database Administrators5,940 jobs · median $93,3203.2×
- 9Database Architects5,260 jobs · median $160,3603.0×
- 10Textile Winding, Twisting, and Drawing Out Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders1,530 jobs · median $50,7702.6×
- 11Management Analysts59,620 jobs · median $117,5802.5×
- 12Web Developers4,590 jobs · median $128,3802.5×
What Virginia is made of
All twenty-two occupational groups by headcount, with the concentration figure beside each. Most states look broadly alike in this view — that is the finding, not a flaw in it.
| Occupation group | Share of state employment | Jobs | vs national | Median wage |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Office and Administrative Support Occupations | 426,040 | 0.91× | $47,180 | |
| Business and Financial Operations Occupations | 387,820 | 1.39× | $95,010 | |
| Sales and Related Occupations | 355,320 | 1.00× | $37,420 | |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations | 339,730 | 0.94× | $35,110 | |
| Transportation and Material Moving Occupations | 325,070 | 0.90× | $44,270 | |
| Management Occupations | 266,570 | 0.91× | $141,720 | |
| Educational Instruction and Library Occupations | 252,970 | 1.05× | $61,100 | |
| Computer and Mathematical Occupations | 248,190 | 1.79× | $128,700 | |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations | 230,590 | 0.89× | $87,270 | |
| Construction and Extraction Occupations | 176,990 | 1.04× | $56,460 | |
| Production Occupations | 163,860 | 0.72× | $46,750 | |
| Healthcare Support Occupations | 162,910 | 0.78× | $37,610 | |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Occupations | 155,070 | 0.96× | $59,820 | |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations | 128,150 | 1.07× | $36,010 | |
| Protective Service Occupations | 114,200 | 1.14× | $51,120 | |
| Personal Care and Service Occupations | 94,200 | 1.09× | $35,710 | |
| Architecture and Engineering Occupations | 76,470 | 1.11× | $100,380 | |
| Community and Social Service Occupations | 67,270 | 0.95× | $59,470 | |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations | 52,910 | 0.98× | $62,540 | |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations | 43,270 | 1.11× | $85,670 | |
| Legal Occupations | 36,930 | 1.07× | $110,300 | |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations | 4,800 | 0.42× | $41,000 |
Elsewhere on Virginia
Blank cells are estimates BLS did not release, usually because too few employers reported. They are shown as gaps rather than filled. Detailed occupations are included only where at least 1,000 people are employed, below which a quotient is survey noise. A wage marked “$239,200 or more” is censored at source: BLS does not publish medians above that figure, so the number is a floor rather than the wage. A work of the U.S. government: no copyright subsists (17 U.S.C. §105). BLS OEWS ↗