Biological Technicians in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,007
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$9,433
18.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$46,793
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
$51,440
Kept after tax
$42,007
Worth in national money
$46,793
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. West Virginia is 29 of 51 states for biological technicians, with a middle wage of $51,440. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 473 occupations West Virginia reports figures for, this is number 224.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $51,440 you keep $42,007 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $46,793 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $57,650, since top earners drag the number up.
- West Virginia ranks 29 of 51 for biological technicians at $51,440. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- In West Virginia's occupational distribution, biological technicians sits at 224 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.
- Retained pay in West Virginia is $42,007 after the full tax stack, from $51,440. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $46,793 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $57,650 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Biological Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,620 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $90,900 |
| This salary | $51,440 |
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 | $42,007 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,512 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,016 |
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 | $49,567 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,438 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $51,440 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $41,620 and the ninetieth is $90,900 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $42,007 take-home in West Virginia comes from $51,440. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 224 of 473.
- One number stands for prices across all of West Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $46,793, the adjusted value of that $51,440 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 224 of 473 in the state.
- The West Virginia median of $51,440 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $41,620 to $90,900. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $42,007, from $51,440, assumes a single West Virginia filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 224 of 473 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $46,793 — the adjusted value of that $51,440 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 224 of 473 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 $57,650, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $41,620 at the bottom tenth to $90,900 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $46,793.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and West Virginia's own levy, $42,007 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $57,650. 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 ($41,620) and the ninetieth ($90,900) 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 $46,793 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 $42,007 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.
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.