Best Community Colleges in Virginia

Why Attend Community College in Virginia?

Virginia is a great option for prospective students looking for an affordable education without sacrificing quality or the potential to enter a promising industry. A few great options are Northern Virginia Community College - offering online coding and data analytics degrees, Radford University’s 4-year public college, and Old Dominion University - which offers more than 100 undergraduate majors. All of these, on average, will cost students around $15,400 per year in tuition and fees and provide great value.

What Career Pathways Are Available in Virginia?

With 771 job types, Virginia ranks 8th in the nation and has plenty of options for aspiring professional. Virginia is ahead of the median by 6.8% when compared with Louisiana, which has 722 job types to choose from. With close to 3.75 million people employed, Virginia is the 12th largest job market in the nation and employs 2.66% of the American labor force. In terms of the industries, Virginia is particularly strong in defense, aerospace, life sciences, technology, and high-end manufacturing.

What Are The Most Common Jobs in Virginia?

Although there are over 700 different job types in Virginia (771 to be exact), some of the most common are Laborers and Freight and Material Movers, Hand, Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers, and Waiters and Waitresses.

Laborers and Freight and Material Movers, Hand

Virginia has 46,190 laborers and freight movers - placing it in the middle of the pack compared to the rest of the U.S. (19th rank). This is still nearly 82% of those employed in leader California. The salary however, falls quite a bit short, with a median of $30,300, placing it at the 34th rank and below the median of close to $50,000, showing a 33% gap between the two.

Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers

Truck drivers in Virginia take home a median salary of $46,640, which is 6% lower than the national median. With 45,780 statewide, the state of Virginia employs just 2.41% of the national average - putting it at the 14th slot. It is, however, ahead of the leader, Texas which only has a total of 202,270 truck drivers (a 77% gap).

Waiters and Waitresses

Virginia is host to 45,360 waiters and waitresses, the 12th most of any state. Interestingly, the state falls below the national median for this role at $23,930 (compared to $22,730) representing a 5.3% difference in salary. Although this is the perception, the max potential for this role pay-wise (92%) remains much higher than almost any other job type - providing an opportunity to make well above the median if you work at it.