Highest Paying Jobs in Virginia

Top 100 occupations ranked by median annual salary — Bureau of Labor Statistics, May 2025

Highest Salary

$488,310

Anesthesiologists

Top 25 Average

$271,654

median salary

$100K+ Jobs

100

occupations

Occupations

100

with wage data

This ranking surfaces the 100 highest-paying occupations in Virginia by BLS OEWS state median salary, drawn from the May 2025 release. At the top, Anesthesiologists pays a state median of $488,310, +25% above the national median of $391,490 for the same role. Of the 100 tracked positions, 100 pay above $100,000 per year in Virginia — a useful threshold for separating specialist professional roles from mid-tier employment. The top-10 average sits at $373,690, giving a sense of what elite specialists inside this state actually clear.

The "Difference" column compares each state median to the corresponding national median for the same SOC code, making pay premiums and discounts immediately visible. In this list, 77 of 100 occupations pay above the national median in Virginia, which usually signals one of three things: a local concentration of specialized employers (finance hubs, tech clusters, research universities, federal agencies), a cost-of-living adjustment baked into state-wide wage scales, or scarce in-state talent supply bidding up competitive roles. Occupations paying below the national median are not necessarily bad news — they often reflect lower cost of living in the state or industries where Virginia is not a concentrated employer.

Rankings like this show ceiling-potential by specialty, but they don't tell you the odds of landing one of those roles. Pair this table with the employment column (how many workers the state actually employs in each occupation) and the growth projections on each occupation's national page to see whether the field is expanding or contracting. BLS wages exclude benefits, bonuses, and overtime — especially distorting for top-paying roles where equity and performance compensation can represent 30-50% of total pay. Use this leaderboard to shortlist careers worth exploring in Virginia, then drill into each row's linked profile to check percentile spread, typical education, metro-level variation, and whether projected openings match your timeline.

#	Occupation	State Median	National	Difference	Employment
1	Anesthesiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$488,310	$391,490	+25% above	N/A
2	Orthopedic Surgeons, Except Pediatric Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$478,710	$358,550	+34% above	170
3	Cardiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$461,450	$496,010	7% below	810
4	Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$403,430	$352,220	+15% above	210
5	Radiologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$376,270	$420,860	11% below	N/A
6	Surgeons, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$360,510	$414,010	13% below	260
7	Chief Executives Management Occupations	$310,740	$213,990	+45% above	4,870
8	Psychiatrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$295,010	$281,870	+5% above	370
9	Obstetricians and Gynecologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$282,410	$292,910	4% below	N/A
10	Dermatologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$280,060	$328,730	15% below	N/A
11	Physicians, All Other Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$278,530	$265,930	+5% above	8,480
12	Nurse Anesthetists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$252,110	$236,590	+7% above	700
13	Physicians, Pathologists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$240,780	$312,400	23% below	110
14	Family Medicine Physicians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$222,630	$244,180	9% below	2,930
15	Computer and Information Systems Managers Management Occupations	$201,490	$175,140	+15% above	17,550
16	Dentists, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$197,110	$170,950	+15% above	4,140
17	Pediatricians, General Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$195,940	$210,040	7% below	750
18	Air Traffic Controllers Transportation and Material Moving Occupations	$191,820	$148,080	+30% above	1,120
19	Sales Managers Management Occupations	$191,130	$148,270	+29% above	9,670
20	Marketing Managers Management Occupations	$187,820	$166,790	+13% above	6,890
21	Financial Managers Management Occupations	$185,220	$166,570	+11% above	20,850
22	Legal Support Workers, All Other Legal Occupations	$179,960	$72,110	+150% above	N/A
23	Ophthalmologists, Except Pediatric Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$177,410	$300,080	41% below	N/A
24	Public Relations Managers Management Occupations	$176,340	$146,910	+20% above	2,610
25	Architectural and Engineering Managers Management Occupations	$176,160	$171,270	+3% above	4,390
26	Lawyers Legal Occupations	$167,210	$159,670	+5% above	18,580
27	Purchasing Managers Management Occupations	$166,230	$148,080	+12% above	3,540
28	Managers, All Other Management Occupations	$166,230	$141,900	+17% above	21,560
29	Human Resources Managers Management Occupations	$165,980	$149,280	+11% above	5,770
30	Database Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$160,360	$139,500	+15% above	5,260
31	Computer and Information Research Scientists Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$157,390	$140,300	+12% above	3,590
32	Compensation and Benefits Managers Management Occupations	$153,660	$149,230	+3% above	N/A
33	Natural Sciences Managers Management Occupations	$150,570	$167,220	10% below	1,470
34	Advertising and Promotions Managers Management Occupations	$148,400	$133,660	+11% above	180
35	Engineers, All Other Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$148,160	$122,930	+21% above	5,060
36	Mathematicians Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$148,030	$126,710	+17% above	400
37	Physicists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$145,040	$172,250	16% below	940
38	Pharmacists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$144,060	$140,910	+2% above	7,980
39	Fundraising Managers Management Occupations	$143,730	$125,470	+15% above	880
40	Aerospace Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$143,210	$134,960	+6% above	2,540
41	Medical Dosimetrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$142,830	$147,470	3% below	90
42	Computer Network Architects Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$141,340	$134,050	+5% above	9,380
43	Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$140,670	$101,110	+39% above	3,380
44	Psychologists, All Other Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$140,640	$110,840	+27% above	510
45	Computer Occupations, All Other Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$139,030	$116,580	+19% above	17,000
46	Computer Hardware Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$139,030	$161,740	14% below	1,720
47	Economists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$137,590	$124,720	+10% above	950
48	Training and Development Managers Management Occupations	$137,520	$133,000	+3% above	1,050
49	Software Developers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$136,460	$135,980	same as	88,280
50	Chemical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$136,380	$125,040	+9% above	790
51	Law Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$136,270	$128,500	+6% above	400
52	Physician Assistants Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$135,940	$135,880	same as	4,340
53	Nurse Midwives Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$135,710	$134,040	+1% above	N/A
54	Information Security Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$134,900	$129,180	+4% above	19,120
55	Podiatrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$133,640	$160,300	17% below	260
56	Forestry and Conservation Science Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$132,820	$101,420	+31% above	60
57	Hydrologists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$132,080	$96,600	+37% above	40
58	Actuaries Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$131,900	$130,000	+1% above	440
59	Optometrists Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$131,570	$136,570	4% below	1,110
60	Administrative Services Managers Management Occupations	$130,850	$114,130	+15% above	2,850
61	Operations Research Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$129,460	$88,940	+46% above	6,980
62	Medical and Health Services Managers Management Occupations	$129,270	$123,860	+4% above	10,210
63	Astronomers Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$128,930	$128,820	same as	N/A
64	Nuclear Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$128,890	$133,970	4% below	N/A
65	Economics Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$128,790	$123,920	+4% above	460
66	Web Developers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$128,380	$92,650	+39% above	4,590
67	Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Technical and Scientific Products Sales and Related Occupations	$128,270	$104,920	+22% above	6,060
68	Industrial Production Managers Management Occupations	$128,230	$126,060	+2% above	2,570
69	Nurse Practitioners Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$127,810	$132,300	3% below	7,110
70	Veterinarians Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations	$126,730	$130,100	3% below	2,700
71	Financial Risk Specialists Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$126,510	$117,330	+8% above	1,770
72	Data Scientists Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$126,430	$120,230	+5% above	8,920
73	Materials Scientists Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$124,150	$117,790	+5% above	100
74	General and Operations Managers Management Occupations	$122,080	$105,770	+15% above	103,590
75	Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$121,880	$109,270	+12% above	1,070
76	Computer Programmers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$121,610	$100,390	+21% above	3,070
77	Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$121,590	$104,300	+17% above	10,160
78	Education Administrators, Postsecondary Management Occupations	$120,840	$104,590	+16% above	N/A
79	Project Management Specialists Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$120,840	$102,320	+18% above	43,860
80	Computer Systems Analysts Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$120,840	$105,850	+14% above	23,190
81	Electronics Engineers, Except Computer Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$119,990	$130,220	8% below	3,280
82	Atmospheric, Earth, Marine, and Space Sciences Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$119,940	$103,170	+16% above	230
83	Transportation, Storage, and Distribution Managers Management Occupations	$119,140	$107,230	+11% above	3,380
84	Construction Managers Management Occupations	$119,110	$114,990	+4% above	7,290
85	Electrical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$119,030	$120,630	1% below	7,260
86	Media and Communication Equipment Workers, All Other Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations	$117,640	$70,720	+66% above	400
87	Management Analysts Business and Financial Operations Occupations	$117,580	$101,860	+15% above	59,620
88	Materials Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$116,720	$112,860	+3% above	620
89	Facilities Managers Management Occupations	$116,540	$106,660	+9% above	2,950
90	Statisticians Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$114,920	$105,650	+9% above	720
91	Detectives and Criminal Investigators Protective Service Occupations	$112,760	$93,790	+20% above	3,180
92	Artists and Related Workers, All Other Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media Occupations	$111,530	$71,240	+57% above	180
93	Network and Computer Systems Administrators Computer and Mathematical Occupations	$109,610	$99,130	+11% above	12,430
94	Education Administrators, All Other Management Occupations	$108,820	$95,200	+14% above	1,480
95	Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers Construction and Extraction Occupations	$108,250	$109,910	2% below	280
96	Geographers Life, Physical, and Social Science Occupations	$108,020	$102,040	+6% above	130
97	Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$106,880	$107,310	same as	5,040
98	Computer Science Teachers, Postsecondary Educational Instruction and Library Occupations	$106,780	$96,980	+10% above	1,670
99	Bioengineers and Biomedical Engineers Architecture and Engineering Occupations	$106,140	$109,370	3% below	330
100	Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary Management Occupations	$106,100	$105,870	same as	8,470

More ways to explore Virginia pay and compare with national data.

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Anesthesiologists

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About This Data

All salary data comes from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2025. State-level data reflects wages for workers employed in Virginia. The "Difference" column shows how Virginia pay compares to the national median for that occupation.

Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Reviewed byWageDex Editorial, Occupational Wages Editorial Team · June 3, 2026

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