Workers in the Roanoke, VA Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $29.13 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 ($61.74), healthcare practitioners and technical ($53.78), and legal ($51.14). Lower paying occupations included food preparation and serving related ($16.96), personal care and service ($17.35), and building and grounds cleaning and maintenance ($17.64). (See table A.)

Occupational groups with the highest employment shares in the Roanoke area included office and administrative support (11.5 percent), sales and related (9.3 percent), and transportation and material moving (9.2 percent). Major occupational groups on the lower end of local employment included legal (0.7 percent); life, physical, and social science (0.7 percent); and arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media (1.2 percent).

One occupational group—office and administrative support—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Roanoke had 17,640 jobs in office and administrative support, accounting for 11.5 percent of local area employment, compared to the 11.4-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $22.75, compared to the national wage of $24.79.

  

View Chart Data

Chart 1. Hourly mean wages for selected higher paying office and administrative support occupations in the Roanoke metropolitan area, May 2025

Occupation	Wage
All occupations	$29.13
Office and administrative support occupations	22.75
First-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers	32.41
Executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants	32.38
Postal service clerks	30.41
Postal service mail carriers	30.11
Postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators	29.27

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the office and administrative support group included customer service representatives (2,760) and office clerks (2,210). Among the higher paying jobs in this group were first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers ($32.41) and executive secretaries and executive administrative assistants ($32.38). (See chart 1.) At the lower end of the wage scale were hotel, motel, and resort desk clerks ($14.63) and receptionists and information clerks ($16.52). (Detailed data for the office and administrative occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0040220/2025.)

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 Roanoke area, above-average concentrations of employment were found in some of the occupations within the office and administrative support group. For instance, postal service mail sorters, processors, and processing machine operators were employed at 2.16 times the national rate in Roanoke, and medical secretaries and administrative assistants, at 1.66 times the U.S. average. Customer service representatives had a location quotient of 1.08 in Roanoke, 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.

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 Roanoke, VA Metropolitan Statistical Area includes Botetourt County, Craig County, Franklin County, Roanoke County, Roanoke city, and Salem city.

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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