Virginia’s cleared professionals boast the highest average total compensation in the country, $108,030, according to the 2020 ClearanceJobs compensation survey. When it comes to cleared job opportunities, Virginia opportunities continue to skyrocket, and competition for top talent is fierce. While the coronavirus pandemic has caused a slight dip in employment figures, federal government and national security employment has kept the state’s overall economy strong. As government agencies return to work, the state will be navigating its new normal. But don’t expect job competition to dip, particularly with coronavirus relief legislation baked into current appropriations. Virginia is home to more than 274 aerospace companies, and Amazon’s HQ2 office is Crystal City’s newest resident.
Major defense contractors are increasingly making Virginia home, whether their focus is cybersecurity and the cloud or satellites and software. Tysons Corner, Falls Church, and Reston are major defense hubs in the state, but not the only ones. Virginia Beach and Hampton Roads are home to a heavy concentration of military installations and defense contractors, as well. And Rocket Lab, a commercial launch company recently got a grant to launch its Electron rocket from its facility on the Eastern seaboard of Virginia.
Compensation by Clearance Level
Confidential clearance holders saw the biggest salary jump, fueled by the fact that fewer than 1% of Virginia’s respondents had confidential clearances. DHS clearance compensation also decreased, and saw a dwindling number of respondents. Skill and state tend to trump clearance level as a compensation driver.
Compensation by Career Level
Early-career professionals (those with between 2 to 5 years of experience) saw the largest salary increases (9%). But when it comes to the career level that pays, professionals with 10 years of experience or more can make it rain in Virginia, making $32,401 more than those with 5 to 10 years of experience. The major pay bump that comes with experience makes sense in a state dominated by defense contracting and with a heavy military presence. In both military service and government contracting, tenure matters, with pay scales and government pay rates going up based on skills, certifications and experience. And with 10% of Virginians also veterans, many cleared professionals bring both military and civilian experience to the career table. 21,210 veterans are projected to transition out of service in Virginia in 2020 alone, and the state frequently ranks high on lists of top states for military retirement. That creates a qualified pool of cleared talent that frequently goes to work in Virginia’s thousands of cleared job opportunities.
Virginia Jobs That Pay
Business Sales rises to the top of Virginia’s most well-paid positions. It makes sense that business and sales positions are king in a state with one of the world’s biggest buying powers—the Pentagon. From unmanned systems to renewable energy, if it’s being made, the Department of Defense is probably purchasing it. Business Sales professionals help make contracts happen, and facilitate the funneling of new tools and technologies into the military supply chain. IT-Software and Engineering professionals are two and three on the list, emphasizing the continued demand and need for tech and cybersecurity professionals. That includes software developers to work for defense contracting companies like Booz Allen and Leidos, and geospatial and aerospace engineers to work at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Hampton Roads and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency in Springfield.
Behind those business sales professionals is Management (including program managers), who came in at #4 highest paid Virginia professionals. Once the contracts happen, program managers ensure proper execution and delivery. Rounding out the top five are IT-Database, including architects and database administrators. These are the professionals who will carry out the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract, a $10 billion Department of Defense cloud computing contract.
Read the full Virginia Security Clearance Compensation Report.
