Richmond, VA Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Richmond, VA - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Richmond, VA moved from $50,020 in May 2024 to $51,460 in May 2025 (+2.9%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Richmond, VA sits -0.2 pp near that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Bartenders shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Richmond, VA
Bartenders publishes $46,070 here versus $34,340 nationally (+34.2%; 2,110metro-area jobs). Next is Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics at $61,510 locally versus $50,620 nationally (+21.5%).
- Bartenders$46,070 in Richmond, VA sits 34.2% above the national Bartenders median of $34,340 (2,110 published local jobs).
- Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics$61,510 in Richmond, VA sits 21.5% above the national Automotive Service Technicians and Mechanics median of $50,620 (2,930 published local jobs).
- Home Health and Personal Care Aides$29,360 in Richmond, VA sits 18.0% below the national Home Health and Personal Care Aides median of $35,800 (11,570 published local jobs).
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers$62,720 in Richmond, VA sits 17.7% below the national Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers median of $76,210 (3,410 published local jobs).
Bartenders and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Richmond, VA; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 40060 · Richmond, VA $68K mean
MEAN-HIGH · RPP-MID · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-HIGH #61/528
- RPP-MID 97.9
- OCC-MOST 592 occs
- TOP-LEAD Cardiologists · $450K
- EMP-MIX Financial Ma…
- TREND-INLINE -0.2 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Massachusetts no…
- BOOK-FULL 562 rows · May 2025
Read with Massachusetts nonmetropolitan area ($60 on published-row mean) · Highest-paying careers
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer — not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Richmond, VA
Employment scale inside Richmond, VA's top-pay list
Financial Managers and Computer and Information Systems Managers lead published employment inside Richmond, VA's top-pay sample — order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Financial Managers 3,480 jobs · $173,140
- 2. Computer and Information Systems Managers 1,900 jobs · $180,640
- 3. Physicians, All Other 1,760 jobs · $284,090
- 4. Sales Managers 1,320 jobs · $168,590
- 5. Marketing Managers 1,090 jobs · $174,130
- 6. Human Resources Managers 960 jobs · $152,190
- 7. Chief Executives 820 jobs · $326,160
- 8. Dentists, General 650 jobs · $218,880
- 9. Architectural and Engineering Managers 570 jobs · $167,170
- 10. Purchasing Managers 490 jobs · $147,410
- 11. Family Medicine Physicians 410 jobs · $208,750
- 12. Public Relations Managers 380 jobs · $160,540
- 13. Obstetricians and Gynecologists 250 jobs · $224,240
- 14. Computer and Information Research Scientists 160 jobs · $162,910
- 15. Pediatricians, General 130 jobs · $165,370
- 16. Compensation and Benefits Managers 130 jobs · $157,370
- 17. Cardiologists 120 jobs · $450,480
- 18. Psychologists, All Other 90 jobs · $152,050
Occupations Tracked
592
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$68,256
employment-weighted, 562 complete rows
Top Salary
$450,480
Cardiologists
Cost of Living
97.9
2% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Richmond, VA
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cardiologists | $450,480 |
| 2 | Chief Executives | $326,160 |
| 3 | Psychiatrists | $290,900 |
| 4 | Physicians, All Other | $284,090 |
| 5 | Surgeons, All Other | $259,310 |
| 6 | Physicians, Pathologists | $240,220 |
| 7 | Nurse Anesthetists | $235,320 |
| 8 | Obstetricians and Gynecologists | $224,240 |
| 9 | Dentists, General | $218,880 |
| 10 | Physicists | $218,290 |
| 11 | Family Medicine Physicians | $208,750 |
| 12 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $180,640 |
| 13 | Marketing Managers | $174,130 |
| 14 | Financial Managers | $173,140 |
| 15 | Podiatrists | $168,600 |
| 16 | Sales Managers | $168,590 |
| 17 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $167,170 |
| 18 | Pediatricians, General | $165,370 |
| 19 | Computer and Information Research Scientists | $162,910 |
| 20 | Advertising and Promotions Managers | $161,040 |
| 21 | Public Relations Managers | $160,540 |
| 22 | Compensation and Benefits Managers | $157,370 |
| 23 | Human Resources Managers | $152,190 |
| 24 | Psychologists, All Other | $152,050 |
| 25 | Purchasing Managers | $147,410 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Richmond, VA
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Parking Attendants | $25,990 |
| Shampooers | $27,340 |
| Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other | $27,610 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $28,590 |
| Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials | $28,830 |
| Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | $28,860 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $29,250 |
| Cooks, Short Order | $29,280 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | $29,360 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $29,480 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in VA
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside VA. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($68,256 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Related federal data
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.