Workers in the Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $30.83 in May 2025, compared to the nationwide average of $33.54, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Lori Keller noted that higher paying major occupational groups included management ($62.45), legal ($55.01), and computer and mathematical ($53.65). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($17.57), building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($17.84), and personal care and service ($17.87). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment shares in the Virginia Beach area included office and administrative support (10.5 percent), food preparation and serving related (9.8 percent), and transportation and material moving (8.8 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.6 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.9 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.2 percent).

One occupational group—construction and extraction—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Virginia Beach had 41,190 jobs in construction and extraction, accounting for 5.4 percent of local area employment, compared to the 4.1-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $27.87, compared to the national wage of $31.42.

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Hourly mean wages for selected higher paying construction and extraction occupations in the Virginia Beach metropolitan area, May 2025

Occupation	Wage
All occupations	$30.83
Construction and extraction occupations	27.87
First-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers	38.39
Construction and building inspectors	33.27
Boilermakers	31.93
Electricians	30.30
Pile driver operators	30.27

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the construction and extraction group included first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers (6,140), electricians (5,740), and construction laborers (5,660). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of construction trades and extraction workers ($38.39) and construction and building inspectors ($33.27). (See chart1.)  At the lower end of the wage scale were helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters ($17.93) and helpers--painters, paperhangers, plasterers, and stucco masons ($18.78). (Detailed data for the construction and extraction occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0047260/2025.)

Location quotients allow us to explore the occupational make-up of a metropolitan area by comparing the composition of jobs in an area relative to the national average. (See table 1.) For example, a location quotient of 2.00 indicates that an occupation accounts for twice the share of employment in the area than it does nationally. In the Virginia Beach area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the construction and extraction group. For instance, mechanical insulation workers were employed at 5.43 times the national rate in Virginia Beach, and sheet metal workers, at 3.54 times the U.S. average. Construction laborers had a location quotient of 1.05 in Virginia Beach, indicating that this particular occupation’s local and national employment shares were similar.

The statistics in this release are from the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, a cooperative effort between BLS and the State Workforce Agencies (SWAs). BLS funds the survey and provides the procedures and technical support. State Workforce Agencies collect most of the data: in this case, Virginia Works, and the North Carolina Department of Commerce.

The Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey is a semiannual survey measuring occupational employment and wage rates for wage and salary workers in nonfarm establishments in the United States. The OEWS data available from BLS include cross-industry occupational employment and wage estimates for the nation; over 530 areas, including states and the District of Columbia, metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs), nonmetropolitan areas, and territories; national industry-specific estimates at the NAICS sector, 3-digit, most 4-digit, and selected 5- and 6-digit industry levels; and national estimates by ownership across all industries and for schools and hospitals. Full OEWS data tables are available online.

Additional information about the OEWS estimates and methodology is available in the national Technical Notes. The overall national response rate for the six panels, based on the 50 states and the District of Columbia, is 66.2 percent based on establishments and 67.2 percent based on weighted sampled employment. Sample sizes and response rates by metropolitan and nonmetropolitan area are available on the Additional OEWS data sets page.

Metropolitan area definitions

The substate area data published in this release reflect the standards and definitions established by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget.

The Virginia Beach-Chesapeake-Norfolk, VA-NC Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Camden County, NC; Currituck County, NC; Gates County, NC; Gloucester County, VA; Isle of Wight County, VA; James City County, VA; Mathews County, VA; Surry County, VA; York County, VA; Chesapeake city, VA; Hampton city, VA; Newport News city, VA; Norfolk city, VA; Poquoson city, VA; Portsmouth city, VA; Suffolk city, VA; Virginia Beach city, VA; and Williamsburg city, VA..

For more information

Answers to frequently asked questions about the OEWS data, as well as general program documentation, are available on the OEWS website.

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