Charlottesville, VA

Across all occupations in the Charlottesville, VA metropolitan area, the median wage is $55,180 a year ($26.53 an hour) and the mean $74,000, May 2025. That median is +8% against the US median of $50,980 and −1% against Virginia's $55,690. BLS counts 114,780 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is chief executives; the largest is registered nurses.

All occupations: Charlottesville, VA vs Virginia and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Charlottesville, VA area, Virginia and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Charlottesville, VA	Hourly	$14.75	$18.20	$26.53	$41.16	$66.22	$35.58	114,780
Charlottesville, VA	Annual	$30,680	$37,860	$55,180	$85,600	$137,730	$74,000	114,780
Virginia	Hourly	$14.68	$18.14	$26.78	$42.99	$66.83	$35.60	4,109,320
Virginia	Annual	$30,530	$37,720	$55,690	$89,420	$139,010	$74,040	4,109,320
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

344 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: Virginia. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Charlottesville, VA

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Chief Executives	$317,900	$152.84	180
2	Physicians, All Other	$286,090	$137.54	1,000
3	Nurse Anesthetists	$241,460	$116.09	60
4	Financial Managers in Virginia	$170,250	$81.85	450
5	Sales Managers in Virginia	$169,390	$81.44	210
6	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$168,400	$80.96	90
7	Marketing Managers	$165,980	$79.80	120
8	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Virginia	$163,230	$78.48	390
9	Dentists, General	$162,400	$78.08	130
10	Human Resources Managers	$155,290	$74.66	150
11	Engineers, All Other	$153,340	$73.72	50
12	Purchasing Managers	$150,260	$72.24	70
13	Data Scientists	$149,800	$72.02	**
14	Lawyers in Virginia	$149,430	$71.84	390
15	Physicists	$148,950	$71.61	50
16	Computer and Information Research Scientists	$144,580	$69.51	40
16	Computer Occupations, All Other	$144,580	$69.51	220
16	Physical Scientists, All Other	$144,580	$69.51	100
19	Nurse Practitioners	$142,950	$68.73	480
20	Pharmacists	$142,220	$68.37	320

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Charlottesville, VA

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Registered Nurses in Virginia	3,040	26.46	1.22	$99,320
2	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Virginia	2,800	24.41	0.98	$30,150
3	Retail Salespersons in Virginia	2,540	22.17	0.88	$34,210
4	General and Operations Managers in Virginia	2,530	22.08	0.98	$107,200
5	Waiters and Waitresses in Virginia	2,140	18.64	1.28	$44,030
6	Cashiers in Virginia	2,110	18.38	0.92	$30,930
7	Office Clerks, General in Virginia	2,080	18.11	1.14	$45,620
8	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Virginia	1,970	17.19	0.62	$29,700
9	Nursing Assistants in Virginia	1,610	14.07	1.51	$44,140
10	Stockers and Order Fillers in Virginia	1,530	13.35	0.73	$35,710
11	Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Virginia	1,470	12.78	2.31	$34,940
12	Software Developers in Virginia	1,390	12.15	1.12	$128,520
13	Cooks, Restaurant in Virginia	1,370	11.96	1.32	$36,960
14	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Virginia	1,200	10.46	0.74	$36,090
15	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Virginia	1,160	10.07	0.92	$53,100
16	Customer Service Representatives in Virginia	1,130	9.84	0.59	$40,240
17	Accountants and Auditors in Virginia	1,100	9.62	1.03	$81,530
18	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in Virginia	1,060	9.22	0.94	$48,170
19	Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education in Virginia	1,040	9.03	1.01	$60,770
20	Project Management Specialists in Virginia	1,010	8.83	1.29	$97,680

Most concentrated occupations in Charlottesville, VA

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Social Scientists and Related Workers, All Other	12.76	350	3.05	$119,430
2	Physical Scientists, All Other	6.25	100	0.90	$144,580
3	Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists	5.74	730	6.37	$65,540
4	Biological Technicians	5.50	280	2.46	$66,590
5	Social Science Research Assistants	4.95	110	0.98	$53,260
6	Physicians, All Other	3.97	1,000	8.75	$286,090
7	Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders	3.75	170	1.45	$55,970
8	Fundraising Managers	3.71	110	0.93	*
9	Biological Science Teachers, Postsecondary	3.57	130	1.15	$135,930
10	Healthcare Support Workers, All Other	3.56	290	2.52	$41,460

Occupation groups in Charlottesville, VA

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$123,520	$143,110	**	**	**
Computer and Mathematical	$109,620	$115,620	4,040	35.24	1.04
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$99,530	$124,530	8,980	78.27	1.24
Legal	$96,990	$122,900	710	6.16	0.73
Architecture and Engineering	$87,080	$98,470	1,630	14.20	0.84
Business and Financial Operations	$80,180	$88,840	8,240	71.79	1.06
Educational Instruction and Library	$73,840	$95,860	12,190	106.20	1.81
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$67,240	$80,860	4,210	36.66	3.87
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$61,410	$68,930	1,800	15.66	1.19
Community and Social Service	$58,070	$60,590	2,560	22.29	1.30
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$57,660	$60,860	3,620	31.50	0.80
Construction and Extraction	$55,580	$58,830	4,120	35.92	0.87
Protective Service	$48,430	$50,140	2,540	22.13	0.91
Office and Administrative Support	$47,380	$50,330	11,030	96.12	0.84
Production	$46,640	$50,720	2,490	21.72	0.39
Healthcare Support	$38,320	$40,380	5,480	47.77	0.94
Transportation and Material Moving	$38,100	$43,530	5,690	49.58	0.56
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$37,460	$43,720	340	2.96	1.06
Sales and Related	$37,030	$50,840	8,780	76.53	0.89
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$36,170	$39,060	3,930	34.28	1.17
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$36,010	$39,990	10,840	94.40	1.07
Personal Care and Service	$35,740	$40,060	2,930	25.56	1.22

Every occupation in Virginia, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 344 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Charlottesville, VA estimates (area 16820).

*: Wage estimate not available.
**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Charlottesville, VA area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.