Internet: www.bls.gov/ro3/ PLS - 4399
FOR RELEASE:
FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 2008
INFORMATION: Gerald Perrins
(215) 597-3282
MEDIA CONTACT: Sheila Watkins
(215) 861-5600

Highlights of Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News
National Compensation Survey July 2007 (PDF)

Workers in the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News metropolitan area earned an average of $16.24 per hour in July 2007, according to new survey results from the National Compensation Survey (NCS) released by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).  Regional Commissioner Sheila Watkins noted that wage data were reported for workers in a wide range of occupational groups, including average hourly earnings of $16.08 for construction and extraction occupations and $13.59 for office and administrative support occupations.  Another occupational group, protective service, had a mean hourly wage rate of $13.23.  The NCS data available for the Virginia Beach area include earnings for 19 major occupational groups with additional detail for selected occupations within those groups.  (See table 1.)

Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters part of the construction and extraction occupational group, earned $18.65 per hour, while operating engineers and other construction equipment operators earned $14.93.  Within the office and administrative support occupational group, executive secretaries and administrative assistants averaged $15.09 per hour.  Police and sheriff’s patrol officers, an occupation within the protective service group, registered an average hourly rate of $19.81, and security guards earned $8.87 per hour.  

Broad coverage of selected occupational characteristics is available from NCS for the local area.  Full-time workers averaged $18.01 per hour while their part-time counterparts earned $9.72.  Union workers earned $17.03 and non-union workers, $16.20.  Workers in establishments with 1-99 workers averaged $13.41 per hour, those in establishments with 100-499 workers earned $15.51, and those in establishments with 500 or more employees earned $22.25.

The occupational wage data available from NCS may be used by businesses for establishing pay plans, making decisions concerning plant relocation, and in collective bargaining negotiations.  Individuals may use such data to help choose potential careers.  NCS results also include the work level and respective earnings for occupations determined by a point factor leveling process.  The four occupational leveling factors are:  knowledge, job controls and complexity, contacts, and physical environment.  Details on the NCS are available at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/. 

The NCS data reported here covered 304 establishments with one or more workers in private industry and State and local governments.  Agricultural establishments, private households, the self-employed, and the Federal Government were excluded from the survey.  This sample of establishments represented 705,700 workers in the Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) which is comprised of Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News, Norfolk, Poquoson, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Virginia Beach, and Williamsburg Cities, and Gloucester, Isle of Wight, James City, Mathews, Surry, and York Counties in Virginia and Currituck County in North Carolina.

Survey Availability

Complete survey results are contained in the Virginia Beach–Norfolk–Newport News, VA–NC National Compensation Survey July 2007 which is available on the Internet in both text and PDF formats at http://www.bls.gov/ncs/ocs/compub.htm. 

For personal assistance or further information on the National Compensation Survey data, as well as other Bureau data, contact the Mid-Atlantic Information Office by calling (215) 597-3282 from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. ET.


Table 1. Civilian workers: Mean hourly earnings(1) for full-time and part-time workers(2), Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC, July 2007
Occupation(3) Total Full-time workers Part-time workers
Mean Relative error(4) (percent) Mean Relative error(4) (percent) Mean Relative error(4) (percent)

All workers

 $16.24 2.9 $18.01 2.7 $9.72 5.7

Management occupations

 36.32 11.5 36.69 11.9 – –

Financial managers

 28.80 5.0 28.11 5.6 – –

Business and financial operations occupations

 25.23 3.4 25.38 3.5 – –

Buyers and purchasing agents

 20.75 9.9 20.75 9.9 – –

Human resources, training, and labor relations specialists

 27.97 15.0 27.97 15.0 – –

Accountants and auditors

 25.07 2.7 25.53 3.0 – –

Computer and mathematical science occupations

 22.49 11.0 22.49 11.0 – –

Architecture and engineering occupations

 26.31 8.5 26.31 8.5 – –

Engineers

 30.85 3.6 30.85 3.6 – –

Engineering technicians, except drafters

 23.00 13.8 23.00 13.8 – –

Community and social services occupations

 18.13 12.3 18.33 12.7 – –

Counselors

 21.01 20.5 – – – –

Education, training, and library occupations

 27.89 3.8 29.51 3.2 14.65 15.6

Postsecondary teachers

 32.80 12.4 35.92 8.7 15.25 32.8

Miscellaneous postsecondary teachers

 26.10 18.5 – – – –

Primary, secondary, and special education school teachers

 31.82 1.3 31.82 1.3 – –

Elementary and middle school teachers

 31.32 2.7 31.32 2.7 – –

Elementary school teachers, except special education

 30.54 1.4 30.54 1.4 – –

Middle school teachers, except special and vocational education

 32.99 4.6 32.99 4.6 – –

Secondary school teachers

 31.87 2.1 31.87 2.1 – –

Secondary school teachers, except special and vocational education

 31.43 1.6 31.43 1.6 – –

Other teachers and instructors

 14.96 13.7 – – 13.65 19.0

Teacher assistants

 12.37 0.1 12.37 0.1 – –

Arts, design, entertainment, sports, and media occupations

 26.56 7.9 27.35 6.8 – –

Healthcare practitioner and technical occupations

 22.80 13.0 22.43 14.9 26.94 9.4

Registered nurses

 24.12 6.0 23.28 7.0 27.45 1.5

Health diagnosing and treating practitioner support technicians

 12.33 8.7 12.33 8.7 – –

Licensed practical and licensed vocational nurses

 16.39 1.0 16.31 1.4 – –

Healthcare support occupations

 11.51 5.6 12.23 9.4 10.05 9.5

Nursing, psychiatric, and home health aides

 10.23 3.6 10.68 0.8 9.52 4.9

Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants

 10.47 1.2 10.68 0.8 10.01 1.5

Miscellaneous healthcare support occupations

 10.95 8.6 – – – –

Protective service occupations

 13.23 11.7 14.73 11.2 8.00 4.7

Police officers

 19.81 5.1 19.81 5.1 – –

Police and sheriff's patrol officers

 19.81 5.1 19.81 5.1 – –

Security guards and gaming surveillance officers

 8.87 4.6 9.46 5.9 – –

Security guards

 8.87 4.6 9.46 5.9 – –

Food preparation and serving related occupations

 8.41 8.5 9.33 19.6 8.15 15.8

Cooks

 7.83 1.8 – – 7.83 1.8

Food service, tipped

 8.43 18.6 – – 9.39 28.1

Waiters and waitresses

 3.21 24.6 – – 2.19 6.4

Fast food and counter workers

 6.97 5.2 – – 6.77 6.4

Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food

 6.95 5.2 – – 6.75 6.6

Building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations

 11.41 8.8 11.36 7.8 11.51 21.2

Building cleaning workers

 11.28 10.0 11.14 9.6 11.51 21.2

Janitors and cleaners, except maids and housekeeping cleaners

 11.92 14.5 12.51 19.0 11.51 21.2

Personal care and service occupations

 7.53 10.9 – – 7.05 6.0

Recreation and fitness workers

 10.86 9.6 – – 9.03 7.3

Recreation workers

 10.79 10.2 – – – –

Sales and related occupations

 12.63 10.0 14.25 10.5 8.10 5.3

First-line supervisors/managers, sales workers

 16.58 6.0 16.58 6.0 – –

First-line supervisors/managers of retail sales workers

 16.17 5.9 16.17 5.9 – –

Retail sales workers

 9.54 2.8 10.39 4.1 7.98 5.0

Cashiers, all workers

 8.82 4.4 – – 7.71 4.1

Cashiers

 8.82 4.4 – – 7.71 4.1

Retail salespersons

 10.13 6.4 11.40 2.4 8.15 10.5

Office and administrative support occupations

 13.59 1.9 13.88 2.1 12.31 2.1

Financial clerks

 15.07 5.0 15.09 8.2 – –

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks

 – – 15.64 14.9 – –

Customer service representatives

 13.12 3.8 13.16 3.9 – –

Order clerks

 9.82 6.5 – – – –

Receptionists and information clerks

 11.10 3.0 11.47 4.5 – –

Stock clerks and order fillers

 9.53 9.4 10.00 6.7 – –

Secretaries and administrative assistants

 13.71 4.8 14.11 5.3 11.39 8.9

Executive secretaries and administrative assistants

 15.09 6.4 15.39 5.7 – –

Secretaries, except legal, medical, and executive

 11.69 7.1 – – – –

Office clerks, general

 13.51 4.9 14.16 5.2 10.11 2.6

Construction and extraction occupations

 16.08 8.5 16.20 8.5 – –

First-line supervisors/managers of construction trades and extraction workers

 25.54 11.4 25.54 11.4 – –

Construction laborers

 10.98 0.8 10.98 0.8 – –

Construction equipment operators

 14.93 5.5 14.93 5.5 – –

Operating engineers and other construction equipment operators

 14.93 5.5 14.93 5.5 – –

Electricians

 17.55 3.1 17.55 3.1 – –

Pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters

 17.02 8.7 17.02 8.7 – –

Plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters

 18.65 5.1 18.65 5.1 – –

Helpers, construction trades

 9.72 7.0 – – – –

Installation, maintenance, and repair occupations

 16.25 3.8 16.55 4.0 12.82 11.0

Miscellaneous electrical and electronic equipment mechanics, installers, and repairers

 15.30 3.5 – – – –

Industrial machinery installation, repair, and maintenance workers

 20.28 20.4 20.60 20.4 – –

Miscellaneous installation, maintenance, and repair workers

 13.63 15.7 13.93 18.0 – –

Helpers--installation, maintenance, and repair workers

 11.19 11.9 – – – –

Production occupations

 16.81 14.1 17.06 14.5 – –

First-line supervisors/managers of production and operating workers

 27.26 16.8 27.26 16.8 – –

Miscellaneous assemblers and fabricators

 16.43 32.1 16.43 32.1 – –

Inspectors, testers, sorters, samplers, and weighers

 10.72 8.7 11.36 14.2 – –

Transportation and material moving occupations

 11.03 9.7 12.05 6.9 7.87 3.6

Bus drivers

 14.11 2.3 14.19 2.2 – –

Bus drivers, school

 14.11 2.3 14.19 2.2 – –

Driver/sales workers and truck drivers

 12.34 10.1 12.36 10.3 – –

Truck drivers, heavy and tractor-trailer

 12.66 13.3 12.66 13.3 – –

Truck drivers, light or delivery services

 14.35 12.5 – – – –

Industrial truck and tractor operators

 12.30 7.0 12.91 6.6 – –

Laborers and material movers, hand

 9.28 9.0 10.73 6.2 7.69 8.6

Laborers and freight, stock, and material movers, hand

 9.18 11.7 10.94 10.5 7.53 10.7

Packers and packagers, hand

 8.56 4.6 – – – –

Footnotes:
(1) Earnings are the straight-time hourly wages or salaries paid to employees. They include incentive pay, cost-of-living adjustments, and hazard pay. Excluded are premium pay for overtime, vacations, holidays, nonproduction bonuses, and tips. The mean is computed by totaling the pay of all workers and dividing by the number of workers, weighted by hours.
(2) Employees are classified as working either a full-time or a part-time schedule based on the definition used by each establishment. Therefore, a worker with a 35-hour-per-week schedule might be considered a full-time employee in one establishment, but classified as part-time in another firm, where a 40-hour week is the minimum full-time schedule.
(3) Workers are classified by occupation using the 2000 Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system.
(4)The relative standard error (RSE) is the standard error expressed as a percent of the estimate. It can be used to calculate a confidence interval around a sample estimate. For more information about RSEs.

 

Last Modified Date: July 7, 2008