Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC moved from $48,430 in May 2024 to $49,430 in May 2025 (+2.1%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC sits -1.0 pp behind that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
Bartenders shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC
Bartenders publishes $46,700 here versus $34,340 nationally (+36.0%; 2,860metro-area jobs). Next is Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers at $59,690 locally versus $76,210 nationally (-21.7%).
- Bartenders$46,700 in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC sits 36.0% above the national Bartenders median of $34,340 (2,860 published local jobs).
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers$59,690 in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC sits 21.7% below the national Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers median of $76,210 (4,320 published local jobs).
- Home Health and Personal Care Aides$28,420 in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC sits 20.6% below the national Home Health and Personal Care Aides median of $35,800 (13,650 published local jobs).
- Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel$56,270 in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC sits 19.6% below the national Sales Representatives of Services, Except Advertising, Insurance, Financial Services, and Travel median of $69,990 (5,810 published local jobs).
Bartenders and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 47260 · Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC $63K mean
MEAN-MID · RPP-MID · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MID #135/528
- RPP-MID 97.9
- OCC-MOST 592 occs
- TOP-LEAD Anesthesiologi… · $501K
- EMP-MIX Managers, Al…
- TREND-INLINE -1.0 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Boise City, ID
- BOOK-FULL 574 rows · May 2025
Read with Boise City, ID ($11 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 Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-N…
Employment scale inside Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC's top-pay list
Managers, All Other and Financial Managers lead published employment inside Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Managers, All Other 2,300 jobs · $143,230
- 2. Financial Managers 2,290 jobs · $163,940
- 3. Pharmacists 1,470 jobs · $136,280
- 4. Computer and Information Systems Managers 1,360 jobs · $170,560
- 5. Sales Managers 1,270 jobs · $158,750
- 6. Engineers, All Other 1,250 jobs · $138,590
- 7. Physicians, All Other 1,050 jobs · $266,280
- 8. Aerospace Engineers 800 jobs · $139,010
- 9. Architectural and Engineering Managers 750 jobs · $161,340
- 10. Dentists, General 720 jobs · $177,400
- 11. Human Resources Managers 680 jobs · $140,410
- 12. Marketing Managers 610 jobs · $155,300
- 13. Family Medicine Physicians 560 jobs · $213,690
- 14. Chief Executives 530 jobs · $297,350
- 15. Purchasing Managers 500 jobs · $143,230
- 16. Database Architects 490 jobs · $135,130
- 17. Cardiologists 230 jobs · $430,900
- 18. Public Relations Managers 200 jobs · $152,990
Occupations Tracked
592
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$63,302
employment-weighted, 574 complete rows
Top Salary
$500,990
Anesthesiologists
Cost of Living
97.9
2% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anesthesiologists | $500,990 |
| 2 | Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric | $478,700 |
| 3 | Cardiologists | $430,900 |
| 4 | Chief Executives | $297,350 |
| 5 | Psychiatrists | $277,010 |
| 6 | Physicians, All Other | $266,280 |
| 7 | Surgeons, All Other | $252,140 |
| 8 | Nurse Anesthetists | $233,060 |
| 9 | Family Medicine Physicians | $213,690 |
| 10 | Dentists, General | $177,400 |
| 11 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $170,560 |
| 12 | Financial Managers | $163,940 |
| 13 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $161,340 |
| 14 | Sales Managers | $158,750 |
| 15 | Marketing Managers | $155,300 |
| 16 | Public Relations Managers | $152,990 |
| 17 | Purchasing Managers | $143,230 |
| 18 | Managers, All Other | $143,230 |
| 19 | Human Resources Managers | $140,410 |
| 20 | Aerospace Engineers | $139,010 |
| 21 | Podiatrists | $138,700 |
| 22 | Engineers, All Other | $138,590 |
| 23 | Pharmacists | $136,280 |
| 24 | Psychologists, All Other | $135,470 |
| 25 | Database Architects | $135,130 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Cooks, All Other | $27,150 |
| Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other | $27,460 |
| Cooks, Short Order | $27,830 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $27,890 |
| Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | $28,260 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $28,380 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | $28,420 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $28,660 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $28,670 |
| Parking Attendants | $28,780 |
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 ($63,302 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
What to do with this data
How to use Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC wage figures in a real decision
- Anesthesiologists leads published medians in Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC at $500,990/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Anesthesiologists
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $63,302 adjusts to about $64,633 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 97.9. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for VA before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
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.