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Virginia Beach City · Virginia

Virginia Beach, VA jobs and wages

Who works here, what they earn, and which industries carry the local economy — Census ACS estimates for the city itself, not the wider metro.

Quick answer

Workers in Virginia Beach, VA earn a median of $48,905 a year, 10% above the national median of $44,587. Unemployment is 4.3% against 5.2% nationally, and education, health care & social assistance is the largest employer at 24.1% of jobs.

Median earnings
$48,905#19 of 94 metros
Unemployment rate
4.3%US 5.2%
Labor force participation
69.5%US 63.5%
People employed
223,094Civilian employed, age 16+

What Virginia Beach does for a living

Share of the civilian employed population by industry, largest first.

  • Education, health care & social assistance24.1%
  • Professional, scientific & management14.4%
  • Retail trade11%
  • Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation & food10.3%
  • Finance, insurance & real estate8.2%
  • Public administration7.7%
  • Manufacturing6%
  • Construction5.6%
  • Other services, except public administration4.8%
  • Transportation, warehousing & utilities4.3%
  • Wholesale trade1.7%
  • Information1.6%
  • Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting & mining0.2%

Related data for Virginia Beach

Earnings only mean something next to what things cost.

Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates

Tables B23025, B20002 and C24030, 2019-2023 ACS 5-year. Industry shares combine the male and female columns of C24030 and are rounded, so they may not total exactly 100%.