Virginia Economy: GDP, Income and Employment

Virginia compared with the United States

Annual real GDP growth was 0.02 percentage points below the U.S. annual growth rate in 2025. Personal income per resident was $3,875 above the U.S. value of $77,028 in the same year. These comparisons use national observations from the same regional producer files.

The August unemployment rate was 0.5 percentage points below the national 4.1% reading. That numerical difference is not a statistical-significance claim. The 2024 price parity was 1.1% above the national benchmark. Household circumstances and local housing markets can differ from these state averages.

Where Virginia ranks among states

• Largest state economies#13 of 50 · 2025
• Fastest-growing state economies#18 of 50 · 2025
• Economic output per resident#14 of 50 · 2025
• Personal income per resident#11 of 50 · 2025
• Lowest state unemployment rates#21 of 50 · August 2026
• Fastest payroll job growth#49 of 50 · August 2026
• Lowest state price levels#36 of 50 · 2024

GDP and income history

Current-dollar output rose 56.8% between 2017 and 2025 in this acquired history. That figure includes price change and is separate from real output growth. The chart uses the published price-adjusted total; chained-dollar industry components are not added together.

Missing 2025 price parities mean that year was not published in the acquired file. They are not treated as zero or estimated from another year.

Employment and unemployment history

Unemployment describes eligible resident jobseekers as a share of the civilian labor force. Payroll employment describes jobs at establishments in Virginia. A commuter can live in another state; a person with multiple covered jobs can contribute multiple payroll jobs. Neither series substitutes for the other.

Scroll within the monthly table to read earlier observations; on narrow screens, scroll sideways for every column.

Monthly unemployment and payroll table

BLS state series · seasonally adjusted · payroll levels in thousands of jobs

Month	Unemployment, %	Payroll jobs, thousands	Unemployment status
August 2026	3.6	4,240.3	Preliminary
July 2026	3.7	4,234.7	Published
June 2026	3.8	4,241.8	Published
May 2026	3.8	4,238.5	Published
April 2026	3.8	4,245.2	Published
March 2026	3.8	4,245.3	Published
February 2026	3.8	4,238.5	Published
January 2026	3.7	4,248.0	Published
December 2025	3.6	4,252.8	Published
November 2025	3.6	4,262.7	Published
October 2025	Not published	4,253.0	Not published
September 2025	3.4	4,276.2	Published
August 2025	3.3	4,278.0	Published
July 2025	3.3	4,280.1	Published
June 2025	3.2	4,287.3	Published
May 2025	3.3	4,289.4	Published
April 2025	3.3	4,283.7	Published
March 2025	3.3	4,278.8	Published
February 2025	3.2	4,277.0	Published
January 2025	3.2	4,275.5	Published
December 2024	3.1	4,269.2	Published
November 2024	3.1	4,265.9	Published
October 2024	3.1	4,264.6	Published
September 2024	3.0	4,265.5	Published
August 2024	3.0	4,252.9	Published
July 2024	2.9	4,249.5	Published
June 2024	2.9	4,250.1	Published
May 2024	2.8	4,238.4	Published
April 2024	2.8	4,235.1	Published
March 2024	2.8	4,239.9	Published
February 2024	2.8	4,226.0	Published
January 2024	2.8	4,217.6	Published
December 2023	2.8	4,214.3	Published
November 2023	2.8	4,208.5	Published
October 2023	2.8	4,205.0	Published
September 2023	2.7	4,206.7	Published
August 2023	2.6	4,201.0	Published
July 2023	2.6	4,188.5	Published
June 2023	2.5	4,187.2	Published
May 2023	2.6	4,172.7	Published
April 2023	2.6	4,165.3	Published
March 2023	2.7	4,165.1	Published
February 2023	2.8	4,166.6	Published
January 2023	2.9	4,154.2	Published
December 2022	2.9	4,134.6	Published
November 2022	2.9	4,134.3	Published
October 2022	2.9	4,123.8	Published
September 2022	2.8	4,125.4	Published
August 2022	2.7	4,118.2	Published
July 2022	2.6	4,100.9	Published
June 2022	2.6	4,075.0	Published
May 2022	2.5	4,075.2	Published
April 2022	2.6	4,073.1	Published
March 2022	2.6	4,046.4	Published
February 2022	2.6	4,045.2	Published
January 2022	2.7	4,016.6	Published
December 2021	2.8	4,032.7	Published
November 2021	2.9	4,018.4	Published
October 2021	3.1	4,010.4	Published
September 2021	3.3	3,983.4	Published
August 2021	3.5	3,990.6	Published
July 2021	3.8	3,979.6	Published
June 2021	4.0	3,942.2	Published
May 2021	4.2	3,935.4	Published
April 2021	4.4	3,924.4	Published
March 2021	4.6	3,921.5	Published
February 2021	4.7	3,908.9	Published
January 2021	4.8	3,913.7	Published
December 2020	5.0	3,902.2	Published
November 2020	5.3	3,892.3	Published
October 2020	5.9	3,886.7	Published
September 2020	6.7	3,869.1	Published
August 2020	7.3	3,838.4	Published
July 2020	8.3	3,774.1	Published
June 2020	8.9	3,713.9	Published
May 2020	10.0	3,639.2	Published
April 2020	11.9	3,618.0	Published
March 2020	3.2	4,079.1	Published
February 2020	2.9	4,095.5	Published
January 2020	2.8	4,098.3	Published
December 2019	2.7	4,085.7	Published
November 2019	2.7	4,086.8	Published
October 2019	2.7	4,082.8	Published
September 2019	2.6	4,070.8	Published
August 2019	2.5	4,069.8	Published
July 2019	2.5	4,067.2	Published
June 2019	2.5	4,069.4	Published
May 2019	2.7	4,059.4	Published
April 2019	2.8	4,056.1	Published
March 2019	2.9	4,052.3	Published
February 2019	3.0	4,045.2	Published
January 2019	3.1	4,041.1	Published
December 2018	3.0	4,034.3	Published
November 2018	3.0	4,033.8	Published
October 2018	2.9	4,027.7	Published
September 2018	2.8	4,022.0	Published
August 2018	2.8	4,025.3	Published
July 2018	2.8	4,026.4	Published
June 2018	2.8	4,023.9	Published
May 2018	2.9	4,016.6	Published
April 2018	3.1	4,010.1	Published
March 2018	3.2	4,006.7	Published
February 2018	3.3	4,001.0	Published
January 2018	3.4	3,996.1	Published
December 2017	3.4	3,987.2	Published
November 2017	3.4	3,974.0	Published
October 2017	3.5	3,976.2	Published
September 2017	3.5	3,974.7	Published
August 2017	3.5	3,968.7	Published
July 2017	3.5	3,967.1	Published
June 2017	3.6	3,965.0	Published
May 2017	3.7	3,958.5	Published
April 2017	3.7	3,955.1	Published
March 2017	3.8	3,953.0	Published
February 2017	3.9	3,950.9	Published
January 2017	4.0	3,940.2	Published

Largest published industries in Virginia

The table orders non-overlapping broad sectors by their 2025 current-dollar GDP in BEA SAGDP2. These shares describe production structure; they do not establish the sectors responsible for the most recent real growth. Suppressed or unavailable cells are omitted rather than reconstructed.

Government and government enterprises is the largest of the acquired broad sectors, at 16.2% of total nominal output. The next sectors are Real estate and rental and leasing and Professional, scientific, and technical services. The original industry classification and table line remain in the JSON download; no occupational wage or employment estimate is inferred from an output share.

Compare economies of a similar nominal size

The three states nearest Virginia in 2025 nominal GDP are Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey. These peers are selected by the absolute difference in total GDP, not by neighboring borders, household income, industry similarity or policy. Use the separate rankings to compare other dimensions.

Sources, downloads and geographic coverage

BEA state accounts: SAGDP1, SAINC1 and SARPP. BLS unemployment code: LASST510000000000003; payroll code: SMS51000000000000001. Geography: Virginia, state FIPS 51; BEA area code 51000. Industry output uses the 2017 NAICS classification in SAGDP2. Original codes are text and must retain leading zeroes.

Source-file dates: GDP/income September 30, 2026; prices February 19, 2026; state labor September 18, 2026. Snapshot: regional-2026-09-30-reviewed. Estimates are revisable. This archive preserves the acquired figures and does not reproduce earlier published vintages. County or metro values are not inferred from this state profile.

Download state histories CSV · Dictionary and source checksums · BEA state GDP · BLS local unemployment · Compare regional purchasing power.