What is the real (cost-adjusted) Financial Analyst salary in Virginia?

After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 101.3 for Virginia), the real-wage equivalent is $102,664 — what the $104,030 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $79,423 to $135,684.

How are Virginia Financial Analyst salaries calculated on this page?

Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.

How many Financial Analysts does Virginia employ?

BLS OES counts 8,870 Financial Analysts employed in Virginia in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.

Is Virginia a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Financial Analysts?

No — Virginia's RPP is close to the national 100 baseline, so nominal and real wages move roughly together. Neither an arbitrage nor a penalty state.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Does BLS financial analyst pay in Virginia include investment-banking bonuses?

BLS OEWS captures W-2 wage and salary income — which includes annual cash bonuses paid through payroll. So sell-side IB analyst-level bonuses, equity-research bonuses, and FP&A annual incentives all show up in the BLS figure. What's NOT included: deferred stock, unvested RSU grants, partnership distributions to senior associates and above, and post-tax-year 'true-up' bonuses paid through 1099. In Virginia, this means BLS reasonably represents junior analyst total comp but increasingly understates senior comp once equity becomes a meaningful share — gap widens at the P90 band.

Does CFA charterholder status raise financial analyst pay in Virginia?

CFA Institute survey data and industry comp reports typically show a 10-20% pay premium for CFA charterholders over non-charterholders at comparable seniority — though the causal share (vs. selection effect: higher-track analysts pursue CFA) is debated. In Virginia, the CFA premium is largest in equity research, portfolio management, and credit analysis roles where the credential is functionally required at the senior level; in IB and corporate finance the premium is smaller and substitutable with MBA. The 4-year, three-exam CFA path costs $3-5K in fees and 900-1,000 study hours, so the realized ROI in Virginia depends heavily on whether the role values the credential for promotion vs. just hiring.

Virginia Financial Analyst Salary: BLS $104K Median, Real $103K (2026)

TL;DR

$104,030 is the BLS median wage for Financial Analysts in Virginia; $102,664 is the BEA-adjusted purchasing-power equivalent.
Cost adjustment is small — neither an arbitrage state nor a high-cost penalty.
Wage envelope: $65,620 (P10) to $180,580 (P90), with quartiles at $80,480 and $137,490.
Nominal: #9/51 · Real: #9/51 — ranking shifts by 0 positions after RPP.

Wage breakdown — Virginia

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$65,620	$64,758
P25 (lower quartile)	$80,480	$79,423
P50 (median)	$104,030	$102,664
P75 (upper quartile)	$137,490	$135,684
P90 (top tier)	$180,580	$178,208
Mean	$116,720	$115,187
Employment	8,870 Financial Analysts in Virginia

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Virginia index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	101.3
Goods	101.1
Services	92.4
Rents	105.6

Virginia's overall RPP (101.3) is close to the national 100 baseline; nominal and real wage move roughly together.

After-tax take-home — Virginia (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Financial Analyst)	$104,030	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$14,134	13.6% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$5,235	2–5.75% (graduated)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$7,958	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$76,703	73.7% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$75,695	÷ (101.3 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Virginia state-tax burden means for Financial Analyst take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 5.0% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $76,703 (73.7% of gross). After the 101.3 RPP, real take-home is $75,695.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $101,350 for Financial Analysts with mean pay of $116,490 and total employment of 340,580. Virginia sits at #9 on nominal pay and #9 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. Nominal and real ranking are the same — cost of living and pay scale together.

Frequently asked questions

What is the real (cost-adjusted) Financial Analyst salary in Virginia?: After BEA RPP adjustment (regional price parity index 101.3 for Virginia), the real-wage equivalent is $102,664 — what the $104,030 nominal salary actually buys. Quartiles in real terms: $79,423 to $135,684.
How are Virginia Financial Analyst salaries calculated on this page?: Nominal wages come from BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES) — annual employer surveys, May 2026 reference period. Real-wage figures use BEA Regional Price Parities (2023 vintage) to adjust for state-level cost of living. No self-report or jobs-board data is mixed in.
How many Financial Analysts does Virginia employ?: BLS OES counts 8,870 Financial Analysts employed in Virginia in the most recent release. Employment density relative to population determines whether wage tiers reflect a robust competitive market or a thinner labor pool.
Is Virginia a 'real-wage arbitrage' state for Financial Analysts?: No — Virginia's RPP is close to the national 100 baseline, so nominal and real wages move roughly together. Neither an arbitrage nor a penalty state.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.
Does BLS financial analyst pay in Virginia include investment-banking bonuses?: BLS OEWS captures W-2 wage and salary income — which includes annual cash bonuses paid through payroll. So sell-side IB analyst-level bonuses, equity-research bonuses, and FP&A annual incentives all show up in the BLS figure. What's NOT included: deferred stock, unvested RSU grants, partnership distributions to senior associates and above, and post-tax-year 'true-up' bonuses paid through 1099. In Virginia, this means BLS reasonably represents junior analyst total comp but increasingly understates senior comp once equity becomes a meaningful share — gap widens at the P90 band.
Does CFA charterholder status raise financial analyst pay in Virginia?: CFA Institute survey data and industry comp reports typically show a 10-20% pay premium for CFA charterholders over non-charterholders at comparable seniority — though the causal share (vs. selection effect: higher-track analysts pursue CFA) is debated. In Virginia, the CFA premium is largest in equity research, portfolio management, and credit analysis roles where the credential is functionally required at the senior level; in IB and corporate finance the premium is smaller and substitutable with MBA. The 4-year, three-exam CFA path costs $3-5K in fees and 900-1,000 study hours, so the realized ROI in Virginia depends heavily on whether the role values the credential for promotion vs. just hiring.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 13-2051, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-05.

Cross-comparison: see how Virginia Financial Analyst pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.