Some of the common occupations in Vilkaviskis.

LOCAL MERCHANTS of herring, sausage and delicatessen, tobacco, confection, hardware, books, woolen goods, junk, wine, and more Country peddler.

CRAFTSMEN blacksmith and tinsmith, candle maker, bookbinder, capmaker, wig maker, cloth dyer tailor, seamstress, shoemaker, shoe repairer, printer, photographer, watch repair, jeweler, house builder, carpenter, plasterer.

LABORER pack carrier, chimney cleaner, domestic, washerwoman.

COMMUNITY SERVICE burial society volunteer, teacher, barber, volunteer firefighter, mailman, banker/ moneylender, carriage driver, watchman, public bath for women.

FOOD PRODUCTION grocer, butcher, ritual slaughter, baker.

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BRUSHMAKING :  The industry of processing pig bristles for the production of brushes was developed in Vilkaviskis. There were four big factories of this kind — belonging to Sobolevitz, Rozin, Vilkovisky and Vindsberg - who employed more than 400 Jewish workers in addition to several smaller workshops. These workers were the first ones who organized and arranged strikes in order to improve their working conditions.

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In 1896 a strike took place in Vindsberg's factory, organized by members of the "Bund" party from Vilna (Avraham Alexandrovitz and Ortshik), the workers demanding to reduce daily working hours to 10, and they achieved their goal. At that time the "Union of the Brush Workers" was established, and in 1898 a proclamation "To the Jewish Brush Workers in Lithuania and Poland" concerning the struggle for workers rights was issued by this union. The "Bund" also organized illegal demonstrations causing collisions with the police and some of the demonstrators were detained (the tailor Voloch, Shmuel Joffe, Eliyahu Slitovsky, Yisrael Kenigsberg). In 1911 about 1000 bristles workers, mostly Jewish, struck in order to achieve an eight-hour working day and a supplement of 75 Kopeiki (100 Kopeiki=1 Ruble) per week, thus becoming the first workers in Lithuania to benefit from an eight-hour day. The "Bund" organization fought not only for workers rights, but also propagated knowledge and Yiddish culture among the working classes.

PROFESSIONALS rabbi, synagogue caretaker, lawyer,  druggist, medical and folks doctor.

MISCELLANEOUS musician, restaurant proprietor, roadhouse owner, beggar, and hotel operator.

The old Tsarist law had prohibited Jews from owning farmland so there were only a few Jewish farmers. Nevertheless, some city Jews rented land where they could plant vegetables.