Bartenders in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,055
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$9,015
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,772
Virginia costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in 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
$47,070
Kept after tax
$38,055
Worth in national money
$37,772
State rank
6
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for bartenders is strong here. Virginia's middle earner gets $47,070, putting the state 6 of 51 — about 37.07% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Virginia reports figures for, this is number 348.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $47,070, tax leaves $38,055, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $37,772 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $54,200, since top earners drag the number up.
- For bartenders, Virginia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $47,070, ranking 6 of 51 and running about 37.07% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Virginia's occupational distribution, bartenders sits at 348 of 489 — 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.
- Because Virginia sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for bartenders — median $47,070 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $38,055 retained, $37,772 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $54,200 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Bartenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,070 |
| Top tenth earn over | $90,400 |
| This salary | $47,070 |
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 Virginia | $38,055 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,001 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,392 |
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 | $44,648 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,102 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Virginia earn less than $47,070. The published range is $27,890 up to $90,400, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Virginia the take-home figure of $38,055, from $47,070, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 348 of 489 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $37,772, the adjusted value of that $47,070 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 348 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for bartenders in Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $27,890 to $90,400. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,055 from $47,070. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 348 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $37,772 — the adjusted value of that $47,070 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 348 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $54,200, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $27,890, the highest tenth $90,400, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $37,772 of national purchasing power.
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; Virginia then takes its own share, leaving $38,055.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 Virginia is $54,200. 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 ($27,890) and the ninetieth ($90,400) 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.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Virginia's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $37,772 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $38,055 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.