The highest paying job in Virginia is Family Medicine Physicians, with a median salary of $219,500 per year. Below is the complete ranking of the top 25 careers in VA based on 2024 Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Data: BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2024
Ranked by median annual salary. Click any job to see the full salary breakdown including percentile data and state-by-state comparisons.
| Rank | Occupation | Median Salary | Mean Salary | Workers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Family Medicine Physicians | $219,500 | $220,010 | 3,480 |
| 2 | Dentists, All Other Specialists | $219,460 | $228,290 | 70 |
| 3 | Nurse Anesthetists | $199,960 | $206,270 | 980 |
| 4 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $192,870 | $202,070 | 18,740 |
| 5 | Pediatricians, General | $189,070 | $200,990 | 1,220 |
| 6 | Dermatologists | $187,150 | $275,690 | N/A |
| 7 | Air Traffic Controllers | $185,890 | $171,440 | 1,130 |
| 8 | Dentists, General | $182,570 | $192,880 | 3,890 |
| 9 | Marketing Manager | $177,250 | $188,500 | 7,170 |
| 10 | Legal Support Workers, All Other | $176,950 | $151,210 | 4,230 |
| 11 | Public Relations Managers | $173,880 | $190,250 | N/A |
| 12 | Compensation and Benefits Managers | $171,300 | $184,420 | 480 |
| 13 | Sales Manager | $170,970 | $181,460 | 9,520 |
| 14 | Financial Manager | $170,290 | $187,160 | 20,590 |
| 15 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $168,780 | $175,950 | 4,070 |
| 16 | Physicists | $164,180 | $163,990 | 1,260 |
| 17 | Political Scientists | $163,950 | $154,860 | 660 |
| 18 | Managers, All Other | $162,610 | $164,770 | 22,210 |
| 19 | Human Resources Manager | $161,690 | $169,190 | 5,910 |
| 20 | Purchasing Managers | $161,300 | $164,450 | 3,630 |
| 21 | Lawyer | $157,980 | $173,200 | 18,420 |
| 22 | Computer and Information Research Scientists | $153,340 | $159,480 | 3,150 |
| 23 | Computer Network Architects | $148,080 | $153,960 | 9,340 |
| 24 | Economists | $148,010 | $149,770 | 970 |
| 25 | Medical Dosimetrists | $146,960 | $141,950 | 110 |
Average Salary in Virginia · All Virginia Jobs · Build Your Resume →
The top-paying careers in Virginia are concentrated in Healthcare Practitioners fields. The #1 job, Family Medicine Physicians, pays $147,725 more than the state average of $71,774 per year.
Among the top 25, the minimum median salary is $146,960, meaning all jobs on this list pay significantly above the national average.
See how Virginia's top salaries compare to other states.
Rankings are based on median annual salary from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) survey, May 2024 estimates. We use median rather than mean salary because it better represents typical earnings and is less affected by outliers.
Only occupations with state-level data published by BLS are included. Some specialized or rare occupations may not have data for every state. For full methodology details, see our Methodology page.