How much money Richmonders make early in their careers
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Richmond is home to some of the country's fastest-growing entry-level wages, per new Glassdoor data.
Why it matters: While big cities like San Francisco, Seattle and New York have some of the highest early-career salaries overall, Richmond had the ninth-highest early career wage growth in the nation.
💰 By the numbers: Those wages rose 5.1% annually on average between 2020 and 2025 in Richmond, according to Glassdoor's report.
- That put average young professional salaries in RVA at $63,071 for this year.
Yes, but: The city still ranks as a "lower earning" metro compared to other cities, per the report.
Zoom out: Provo, Utah led the pack with 7% average wage growth, followed by Boise, Idaho (+5.5%); Orlando (+5.4%) and Charleston, South Carolina (+5.3%).
How it works: Glassdoor crunched more than 5 million salary datapoints from its users "with 0-4 years of relevant experience in their current job from January 2020 through October 31, 2025," and among metro areas with at least 1,000 salary datapoints per year.
The bottom line: "It's difficult to start your career during a soft labor market, but there is a silver lining: earnings growth is on the rise for workers with 0-4 years of experience," per Glassdoor's report.
- "And 2026 will be the first year that these workers' purchasing power exceeds 2020 levels."
- That's not nothing.

