Business Teachers, Postsecondary in West Virginia

Books, colored pencils and a globe in a bright classroom.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$78,436

after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax

Tax takes

$26,044

24.9% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$87,372

West Virginia costs less than average

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

$104,480

Kept after tax

$78,436

Worth in national money

$87,372

State rank

11

of 51 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • This is a good state for the work. West Virginia pays this job a middle wage of $104,480, ranking 11 of 51 states and sitting about 5.45% above the national middle.
  • Locally, this pays well. Among 473 occupations West Virginia reports, this job comes in at 28 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
  • Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $104,480 you keep $78,436, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $87,372 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $117,120, because the best-paid pull it up.
  • West Virginia's median for business teachers, postsecondary is $104,480, about 5.45% above the national figure and 11 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
  • Business teachers, postsecondary ranks 28 of 473 occupations by median in West Virginia, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
  • After federal, FICA and West Virginia income tax, retained pay for business teachers, postsecondary on $104,480 is $78,436. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $87,372 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $117,120 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Business Teachers, Postsecondary

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$56,670
Half earn under$104,480
Top tenth earn over$206,080
This salary$104,480

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

Compare with
+$3,896take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in West Virginia$78,436
Take-home in Texas$82,332
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$2,647

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

Moving to
$0$108,136
$108,136in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$98,942
Raise you would need+$3,656
Prices in Texas97 vs 90

State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.

Sources and assumptions
  • A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of business teachers, postsecondary in West Virginia earn under $104,480 and half over. The published range runs $56,670 at the tenth percentile to $206,080 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
  • One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind West Virginia's $78,436, worked from $104,480. 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 28 of 473.
  • Two cautions on $87,372, the adjusted value of that $104,480 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of West Virginia. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 28 of 473 locally.
  • Figures are distribution medians for business teachers, postsecondary in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $56,670 to $206,080; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
  • The West Virginia take-home of $78,436, on $104,480 for work ranking 28 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 28 of 473 in the state.
  • This $87,372 adjusted figure, worked from $104,480, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 28 of 473 in the state. The occupation ranks 28 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 $117,120, 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 $56,670 at the bottom tenth to $206,080 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.

What does this pay actually buy where I live?

More than the figure suggests. Prices in West Virginia sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $87,372 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.

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, $78,436 remains.

Can I compare this job across every state?

Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.

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 $117,120. 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 ($56,670) and the ninetieth ($206,080) 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 $87,372 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 $78,436 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.