Virginia · SOC 35-0000 · Annual, 2025
Food preparation and serving related occupations in Virginia
Employment and average annual wage for SOC 35-0000 in Virginia, 2004–2025, from DTG's OEWS-based estimates.
In 2025, about 340,400 people in Virginia worked in food preparation and serving related occupations (SOC 35-0000), with an average annual wage of $40,890.
Employment in food preparation and serving related occupations in Virginia grew 23.0% from 2020 to 2025. The average wage in this occupation group is 49.2% below the all-occupations average in Virginia. Employment reached its 2004–2025 peak in 2025, at about 340,400. Quarterly values, full occupation detail and projections to 2036 for Virginia are included with a free account. County-level detail is part of every paid plan, or one county free for seven days.
- 340,400Employment, 2025
- $40,890Mean annual wage
- 8.2%Share of Virginia jobs
- 0.94Location quotient
Employment, 2004 to 2025
Annual average · all ownerships
Annual employment, 2004–2025: 2004 261,400; 2005 269,300; 2006 276,400; 2007 282,400; 2008 285,100; 2009 280,700; 2010 280,500; 2011 287,200; 2012 295,400; 2013 301,300; 2014 306,200; 2015 316,900; 2016 327,200; 2017 333,300; 2018 335,900; 2019 339,600; 2020 276,800; 2021 296,500; 2022 314,600; 2023 333,200; 2024 339,000; 2025 340,400.
Last ten years
Annual · 10 years
| Year | Employment | Mean annual wage | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 340,429 | $40,893 | 0.4% |
| 2024 | 339,022 | $39,487 | 1.8% |
| 2023 | 333,205 | $37,042 | 5.9% |
| 2022 | 314,566 | $34,316 | 6.1% |
| 2021 | 296,504 | $30,943 | 7.1% |
| 2020 | 276,814 | $28,532 | 18.5% |
| 2019 | 339,618 | $26,702 | 1.1% |
| 2018 | 335,873 | $25,949 | 0.8% |
| 2017 | 333,305 | $25,480 | 1.8% |
| 2016 | 327,250 | $25,009 | 3.3% |
The full history from 2004 and quarterly values are available with a free account.
Where these numbers come from
Reading these figures
The figures on this page come from one named vintage, stated below, and are annual values for all ownerships combined. Every occupation value is a DTG estimate: there is no published county or state census of occupations to report, so no value here is marked as published or estimated, and none carries a reliability score. Quarterly figures, county figures, detailed occupations and projected years are in the app.
How these figures are built
DTG’s industry employment fixes how many jobs there are in each industry in the state. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ national industry-occupation matrix says how each industry is staffed, and the Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey says how many people work in each occupation in the area and what they earn. DTG makes the three agree, so occupation employment sums to the same totals as industry employment. Employment is the annual average; the mean annual wage is the year’s total occupation wages divided by that average employment. The construction is described in full on the occupation data page.
Notes
Data Tactical Group is an independent company and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any federal agency.
Food preparation and serving related occupations in Virginia, quarterly, at full depth
This page shows annual figures for food preparation and serving related occupations in Virginia. A free account shows every detailed occupation in the group, quarterly, for every state, with projections to ten years. No card.
County figures, file export and the API are on paid plans.