Virginia · BLS May 2025
Also called food prep. SOC 35-2021.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics counted 16,340 food preparation workers working in Virginia. Here is what they are paid, what the median leaves after federal, state and FICA tax, and what that is worth against local prices.
Median pay · Virginia
$34,900A year, or $16.78 an hour.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentileEntry and lowest-paid | $28,460 | $13.68 |
| 25th percentile | $30,940 | $14.88 |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $34,900 | $16.78 |
| 75th percentile | $37,310 | $17.94 |
| 90th percentileMost experienced and senior | $42,480 | $20.42 |
| MeanThe average, pulled up by the top | $34,930 | $16.80 |
Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1
A $34,900 salary in Virginia, for one single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026.
Prices in Virginia sit at 101.1 against a national average of 100, so $34,900 earned here buys what $34,519 buys at national average prices.
Common questions
The median wage for food preparation workers in Virginia is $34,900 a year, or $16.78 an hour.
Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.
On the median wage of $34,900, one filer taking the standard deduction keeps about $29,030 a year, or roughly $2,419 a month.
That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 16.8%.
Virginia takes $1,193 of it in state income tax.
No. The median in Virginia is 1.2% below the national median of $35,320.
Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in Virginia sit at 101.1 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.
It is 0.38 times the median household income of $93,170. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.
Prices in Virginia run at 101.1 against a national average of 100, with rents at 106.8, so $34,900 here buys about what $34,519 buys at national average prices.
The top tenth earn $42,480 a year or more, against $28,460 at the bottom tenth.
Experience, specialism, employer and the part of Virginia someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.
The survey counted 16,340 of these jobs in Virginia for May 2025.
That makes the occupation 31% less concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.
Sources