Virgin Islands Wages Lag Behind U.S. Average, While Postal and Admin Support Roles Lead Within Local Sector, BLS Finds

Workers in the U.S. Virgin Islands earned an average hourly wage of $24.82 in May 2024, according to newly released data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That figure falls significantly below the national average of $32.66 per hour, BLS said on Friday, highlighting ongoing income disparities between the territory and the mainland.

Among the higher-paying major occupational groups in the territory were legal ($46.21/hour), management ($44.79/hour), and computer and mathematical occupations ($41.08/hour).

While those figures represent the upper end of the wage scale, the BLS focused its latest report on the territory’s office and administrative support occupations, which remain a vital part of the local labor market.

Office and administrative support jobs represented 13.7% of all employment in the U.S. Virgin Islands, surpassing the national share of 11.8%. In total, the territory had approximately 4,660 such positions as of May 2024.

These jobs span a range of roles, from front-line clerical work to supervisory and postal services. According to BLS, some office-related roles in the Virgin Islands pay above the territory’s average hourly wage, especially those involving higher responsibility or specialized duties.