This is the Most Iconic Job in Virginia

Each of the 50 states has its own unique identity. These identities have been shaped over decades and centuries and are often defined, at least in part, by economic forces.

Whether it is agriculture in California or resource extraction in Texas, certain industries — and therefore certain jobs — are far more common in some states than others. Often, these occupations serve as both economic engines and as symbols of local identity.

Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on the concentration of jobs in a given state relative to their concentration nationwide, 24/7 Wall St. identified the most iconic job in each state.

Marine engineers and naval architects are the most iconic job in Virginia. There are about 11,360 Americans working as marine engineers and naval architects, and 22.2% of them are in Virginia.

The occupation’s concentration in the state is largely due to the presence of major defense contractors. Newport News-based Huntington Ingalls Industries, for example, is the largest military shipbuilding company in the United States — it is the only builder of American aircraft carriers and one of only two builders of nuclear submarines.

To determine the most iconic job by state, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the relative concentration of occupations within all 50 states with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ May 2019 Occupational Employment Statistics program. Detailed occupations were ranked based on location quotient — the concentration of an occupation within a state’s labor force relative to the concentration in the national labor force — as of 2019. Additional data on median annual wage at the state and national levels also came from the BLS. This is the most iconic job in every state.