Chief Executives in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$204,798
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$105,942
34.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$203,276
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
$310,740
Kept after tax
$204,798
Worth in national money
$203,276
State rank
5
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for chief executives is strong here. Virginia's middle earner gets $310,740, putting the state 5 of 46 — about 45.21% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Virginia this is well-paid work. Of 489 occupations with published figures in the state, chief executives ranks 1 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $310,740, take-home of $204,798 is worth roughly $203,276 in national money. The average comes to $340,580, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For chief executives, Virginia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $310,740, ranking 5 of 46 and running about 45.21% 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Virginia publishes a median for, chief executives sits 1 of 489 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for chief executives, whose median is $310,740, the adjusted figure of $203,276 differs little from $204,798 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $340,580 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Chief Executives
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $130,000 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $310,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $604,090 |
| This salary | $310,740 |
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 | $204,798 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $221,905 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$25,081 |
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 | $283,434 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$38,880 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $310,740 as a midpoint for Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $130,000 and the ninetieth is $604,090 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Virginia's $204,798, worked from $310,740. 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 1 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $203,276 uses one figure for the whole of Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 1.
- The Virginia median of $310,740 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $130,000 to $604,090. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Virginia take-home of $204,798, on $310,740 for work ranking 1 of 489 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 1 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $203,276, worked from $310,740, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Virginia address, on work sitting at 1 of 489 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 $340,580 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $130,000 and the top tenth $604,090 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $203,276 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $204,798 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $340,580. 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 ($130,000) and the ninetieth ($604,090) 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 $203,276 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 $204,798 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.
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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.