Art Directors in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,221
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$12,329
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$57,057
West Virginia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in West Virginia — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$63,550
Kept after tax
$51,221
Worth in national money
$57,057
State rank
45
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. West Virginia pays art directors a middle wage of $63,550, 45 of 46 states and about 44.67% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 473 occupations West Virginia reports figures for, this is number 146.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $63,550 the take-home is $51,221; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $57,057 would nationally. The average comes to $69,420, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia's $63,550 median for art directors places it 45 of 46 states, about 44.67% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- In West Virginia's occupational distribution, art directors sits at 146 of 473 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Post-tax income for art directors in West Virginia, on $63,550, is $51,221 — equivalent to $57,057 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $69,420 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Art Directors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $111,080 |
| This salary | $63,550 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in West Virginia | $51,221 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,242 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,266 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $61,034 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,741 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $63,550 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $45,370 and the ninetieth is $111,080 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind West Virginia's $51,221, worked from $63,550. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 146 of 473.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $57,057 uses one figure for the whole of West Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 473 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 146.
- The West Virginia median of $63,550 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $45,370 to $111,080. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The West Virginia take-home of $51,221, on $63,550 for work ranking 146 of 473 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 146 of 473 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $57,057, worked from $63,550, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular West Virginia address, on work sitting at 146 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $69,420, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $45,370 at the bottom tenth to $111,080 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. West Virginia is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $57,057 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; West Virginia then takes its own share, leaving $51,221.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in West Virginia is $69,420. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($45,370) and the ninetieth ($111,080) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
West Virginia's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $57,057 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $51,221 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and West Virginia income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.