The Bustling State Where Residents Have The Highest Average Income (And It's Not New York Or California)

If ever a buzzword fit the current economic climate, "affordability" would be it. A Google search of the word lays bare the financial woes of everyone from car dealers and college students to touring musicians and home buyers. Many Americans are moving out of the big city to live somewhere more affordable. However, it isn't doom and gloom for everyone — particularly for residents of the bustling, historic state of Virginia. While you might be inclined to think residents of notoriously expensive states like New York and California take home the country's biggest paychecks, a recent study by finance company WalletHub reveals that Virginians boast the country's highest average income.

The WalletHub study found the top 5% of Virginians rake in an average annual salary of $533,522, the third-highest income among America's five percenters. In comparison, annual salaries for the lowest 20% of Virginians average out to $19,293. However, these low Virginia earners actually take home the fourth-biggest paychecks among the nation's lowest 20%. When WalletHub crunched the numbers for all 50 states, Old Dominion bested the entire nation to become the state with the highest average income.

WalletHub analyst Chip Lupo shared that the study sought to spotlight "where income disparities are more prevalent, which could help us better understand why residents of certain states struggle more to make ends meet." To determine this, WalletHub analyzed data for all 50 states (plus the District of Columbia) collected from the U.S. Census Bureau and Council for Community and Economic Research. The study measured three key metrics — "the average annual income of the top 5%, the average annual income of the bottom 20%, and the median income for all residents."

Several of Virginia's highest earners reside in the idyllic small town of Keswick, characterized by rolling farmland dotted with grand estates, and nestled smack dab in the middle of Virginia wine country. Located less than 15 minutes from the lively Blue Ridge Mountains college town of Charlottesville, the state's wealthiest town has just 207 households but boasts an astonishing mean household income of $538,732, according to a Forbes roundup of Virginia's richest enclaves. The affluent town of Great Falls, home to the underrated Great Falls Park, comes in second with a mean household income just north of $399,000. McLean, home to CEOs, diplomats, and members of Congress is Virginia's third-richest city. Residents of McLean bring home a healthy annual mean income of $364,591.

Naturally, these big paydays beg the question, "What are Virginia's highest-earning professions?" According to a ranking of the state's 10 highest paid jobs by the online school Nexford University — based on numbers from Glassdoor — medical professionals are extremely well compensated. Virginia physicians earn anywhere from $335,000 to $610,000 annually, with cardiologists, anesthesiologists, and radiologists based in the capital of Richmond earning the most. A median annual income of $303,000 makes Virginia's dentists the state's third-highest earners, while telemedicine nurse practitioners and nurse anesthetists took the fourth and fifth spots.

Outside of medicine, C-suite executives are Virginia's second-highest earners, pulling in an average salary of $381,000. The rest of the list is rounded out by the jobs of pilot, finance manager, data scientist, cybersecurity engineer, and — perhaps the most surprising profession on the list — self-employed truck driver. This blue-collar job is Virginia's 10th-highest paid, with an average salary of $145,200 per year.