2026 Edition · An annual reference on what work pays

Waiters and Waitresses

Staunton-Stuarts Draft, VA metropolitan area. Estimated employment 690.

Data released May 2025 BLS OEWS · SOC 35-3031
Fig. 1 — The wage rule

Where you sit in the distribution

Drag the marker, or type a figure
$37,910 · 50th
$27,31010th
$30,15025th
$37,91050th
$48,78075th
$61,95090th

That is the medianhalf of waiters and waitresses in Staunton earn more.

Table 1 — Adjusted

$37,910 in Staunton buys what $41,600 buys across the country as a whole.

Staunton's regional price parity is 91.1 — well below the national average — the nominal figure understates local buying power considerably. Adjusted figures for other metros are in the nearby-metros table below.

Table 2 — Nearby metros

The same job, elsewhere in Virginia

Adjusted figures apply each metro's regional price parity, so the columns are directly comparable.

Metro areaMedianAdjustedRPPvs. Staunton
Harrisonburg$44,760$47,20094.9+13.4%
Charlottesville$44,030$44,40099.1+6.8%
Virginia Beach$39,020$39,80097.9−4.2%
Richmond$38,470$39,30097.9−5.5%
Staunton This page$37,910$41,60091.1
Winchester$37,680$39,10096.5−6.1%
Blacksburg$37,670$40,60092.7−2.3%
Roanoke$37,380$39,90093.6−4.0%

Price parity and difference against Staunton are in the full table on wider screens.

Fig. 2 — Five-year trend

Nominal against real

The same median, once as published and once restated in 2025 dollars.

20k30k40k 20212022202320242025
Nominal, as published Real, in 2025 dollars US$ thousands

Published pay rose 69.9% over the five years to 2025. Adjusted for inflation it still rose 43.0% — pay has outrun prices since 2021. The two lines meet at the right edge by construction, since 2025 is the base year.

Sources

How this page was made

Wage data
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. Public domain.
Price parity
Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.
Inflation
Real figures deflate by CPI-U annual averages (BLS, all items, US city average).
Employment
690 employed in this occupation in the metro (BLS estimate; excludes the self-employed).
Occupation
SOC 35-3031, Waiters and Waitresses. Mapped to our taxonomy as waiters-and-waitresses.

Percentiles are reported exactly as released and are never interpolated between published values. We take no payment from employers, recruiters or anyone else for how any figure is presented.