Northern Virginia Labor Market

The service area of Northern Virginia Community College (NOVA) is comprised of Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, and Prince William counties, as well as the cities of Alexandria, Fairfax, Falls Church, Manassas, and Manassas Park. NOVA’s service area makes up 30% of Virginia’s population and a third of its employment.^{1, 2} Thus, understanding the Northern Virginia labor market is critical for both students and institutions to make informed decisions about education. There were over 26,000 job postings in NOVA’s service area between May 2022 and April 2023 that requested an associate’s degree. These postings included a wide range of industries and occupations, including healthcare, education, business and finance, and information technology.² NOVA graduates can go into a variety of high-paying, in-demand occupations.² In-demand occupations are those that are projected to grow at higher than the median average annual growth rate over the next five years, are projected to have above the 30^th percentile of average annual openings, and have had more than 50 job postings in the last 12 months.

This issue presents labor market data for NOVA’s service area, with comparisons to statewide data where possible. The data primarily comes from Lightcast Analyst, a proprietary data source providing regional labor market estimates.² Typical education levels come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Projections Program, which provides national-level education and training information for each occupation.³ Industry sectors come from the 2022 North American Industry Classification System (NAICS), which groups business establishments based on their primary business activities.⁴