Labor Force

A workforce of 150,000 resides within a 45-minute drive time of Wythe County Progress Park. Due to the excellent accessibility provided by the presence of two interstates (I-77 and I-81), a 45-minute drive can capture workers from seven Virginia counties as well as from West Virginia and North Carolina. Companies paying competitive wages generally do not have trouble finding interest among workers as demonstrated by the fact that in 2005 and early 2006, the local Virginia Employment Commission office received over 5,000 inquiries about employment opportunities at the new Gatorade facility. Click here to learn more about a recent highly successful Wytheville Job Fair.

Labor costs are attractive in Southwest Virginia. Often wages are about 80% of the statewide average. Manufacturing wages tend to average from $9.00/hour for unskilled manufacturing workers to over $15.00/hour for skilled maintenance and other technicians. The average mean wage for common manufacturing positions within the region was only 88.8% of the state average. Virginia's 2006 workers’ comp rate for manufacturing is $2.33/$100 of payroll (fifth lowest of all states). The national average workers' comp rate for the manufacturing industry was $4.10/$100 of payroll for 2006.

 Virginia's unemployment insurance rates for 2006 ranged from 0.29% to 6.39% of the wage base of $8,000. (New employers pay a rate of 2.69% for the first two years.)

 The average Virginia unemployment tax rate of 0.4% (as a percent of total wages) was the 4th lowest among the 50 states. The average rate for the US is 0.78%.

(Source: Virginia Economic Development Partnership)

Virginia is the northernmost right-to-work state in the eastern US.

For a wealth of labor market data and analysis for Wythe County, Workforce Investment Area II (a 13-county area with Wytheville near the center), and Virginia, as well as other geographic selections, click here.

By place of employment (Census Bureau, Local Employment Dynamics, 2Q2006)