Workers in the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC Metropolitan Statistical Area had an average (mean) hourly wage of $28.86 in May 2023, 8 percent below the nationwide average of $31.48, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Alexandra Hall Bovee noted that, after testing for statistical significance, wages in the local area were lower than their respective national averages in 18 of the 22 major occupational groups, including legal; arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media; and management. Some groups had significantly higher wages than their respective national averages, including production.

When compared to the nationwide distribution, Virginia Beach area employment was more highly concentrated in 11 of the 22 occupational groups, including business and financial operations, architecture and engineering, and food preparation and serving related. Eight groups had employment shares significantly below their national representation, including management, office and administrative support, and transportation and material moving. (See table A.)

One occupational group—business and financial operations—was chosen to illustrate the diversity of data available for any of the 22 major occupational categories. Virginia Beach had 57,140 jobs in business and financial operations, accounting for 7.8 percent of local area employment, significantly higher than the 6.6-percent share nationally. The average hourly wage for this occupational group locally was $40.89, significantly below the national wage of $43.55.

  

View Chart Data

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

Chart 1. Hourly mean wages for higher paying business and financial operations occupations in the Virginia Beach metropolitan area, May 2023

Occupation	Wage
All occupations	$28.86
Business and financial operations occupations	40.89
Personal financial advisors	73.49
Project management specialists	52.15
Financial risk specialists	48.42
Labor relations specialists	48.31
Management analysts	48.01

Some of the larger detailed occupations within the business and financial operations group included project management specialists (6,670), accountants and auditors (6,640), and management analysts (6,430). Among the higher-paying jobs in this group were personal financial advisors and project management specialists, with mean hourly wages of $73.49 and $52.15, respectively. (See chart 1.) At the lower end of the wage scale were credit counselors ($23.97) and meeting, convention, and event planners ($25.62). (Detailed data for the business and financial operations occupations are presented in table 1; for a complete listing of detailed occupations available go to www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_47260.htm.)

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 2.0 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 business and financial operations group. For instance, logisticians were employed at 2.6 times the national rate in Virginia Beach, and cost estimators, at 1.8 times the U.S. average. Compliance officers had a location quotient of 1.0 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, the Virginia Employment Commission, 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 580 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 are 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 65.8 percent based on establishments and 64.3 percent based on weighted sampled employment. The sample in the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC Metropolitan Statistical Area included 4,352 establishments with a response rate of 47 percent.

A value that is statistically different from another does not necessarily mean that the difference has economic or practical significance. Statistical significance is concerned with the ability to make confident statements about a universe based on a sample. It is entirely possible that a large difference between two values is not significantly different statistically, while a small difference is, since both the size and heterogeneity of the sample affect the relative error of the data being tested.

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

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.