Carpenters in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,929
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$8,781
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,478
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
$48,710
Kept after tax
$39,929
Worth in national money
$44,478
State rank
46
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. West Virginia pays carpenters a middle wage of $48,710, 46 of 51 states and about 19.59% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Carpenters ranks 252 among 473 occupations West Virginia publishes pay for.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $48,710 the take-home is $39,929; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $44,478 would nationally. The average comes to $50,540, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia's $48,710 median for carpenters places it 46 of 51 states, about 19.59% 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.
- Position 252 of 473 in West Virginia places carpenters in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Post-tax income for carpenters in West Virginia, on $48,710, is $39,929 — equivalent to $44,478 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 $50,540 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Carpenters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,900 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $70,060 |
| This salary | $48,710 |
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 | $39,929 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,318 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,958 |
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 | $46,980 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,368 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 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 carpenters in West Virginia earn under $48,710 and half over. The published range runs $35,900 at the tenth percentile to $70,060 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 $39,929, worked from $48,710. 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 252 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 $44,478, the adjusted value of that $48,710 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 252 of 473 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for carpenters in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $35,900 to $70,060; 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 $39,929, on $48,710 for work ranking 252 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 252 of 473 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $44,478 — the adjusted value of that $48,710 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 252 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 $50,540, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $35,900 at the tenth percentile, $70,060 at the ninetieth.
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 $44,478 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, $39,929 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 $50,540. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,900 to $70,060) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to West Virginia rather than a national figure.
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 $44,478 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 $39,929 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.