Carpet Installers in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,359
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$5,861
16.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,818
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
$36,220
Kept after tax
$30,359
Worth in national money
$33,818
State rank
44
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia is among the lower-paying states for carpet installers. The middle earner takes $36,220, ranking 44 of 45 states — about 28.05% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Within West Virginia this is lower-paid work. Of 473 occupations the state publishes figures for, carpet installers ranks 380. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $36,220 the take-home is $30,359; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $33,818 would nationally. The average comes to $39,560, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia ranks 44 of 45 for carpet installers, with a median of $36,220 — about 28.05% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Against every occupation West Virginia reports, carpet installers ranks 380 of 473, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Post-tax income for carpet installers in West Virginia, on $36,220, is $30,359 — equivalent to $33,818 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 $39,560 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Carpet Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $24,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,770 |
| This salary | $36,220 |
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 | $30,359 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,283 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,626 |
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 | $35,070 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,966 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,220 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $24,390 and the ninetieth is $56,770 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In West Virginia the take-home figure of $30,359, from $36,220, 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 380 of 473 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $33,818, the adjusted value of that $36,220 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 380 of 473 locally.
- The West Virginia median of $36,220 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $24,390 to $56,770. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for West Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $30,359 from $36,220. 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 380 of 473 locally.
- This $33,818 adjusted figure, worked from $36,220, 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 380 of 473 in the state. The occupation ranks 380 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $39,560 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $24,390, the highest tenth $56,770, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $33,818 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 $30,359.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $39,560. 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 ($24,390) and the ninetieth ($56,770) 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 $33,818 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 $30,359 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.