Childcare Workers in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,551
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$5,779
16.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,339
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
$34,330
Kept after tax
$28,551
Worth in national money
$28,339
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Virginia is 22 of 51 states for childcare workers, with a middle wage of $34,330. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Virginia this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, childcare workers ranks 470. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $34,330, take-home of $28,551 is worth roughly $28,339 in national money. The average comes to $35,070, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Virginia ranks 22 of 51 for childcare workers at $34,330. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Virginia reports, childcare workers ranks 470 of 489, 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.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for childcare workers, whose median is $34,330, the adjusted figure of $28,339 differs little from $28,551 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $35,070 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Childcare Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,150 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $44,100 |
| This salary | $34,330 |
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 | $28,551 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,764 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,291 |
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 | $32,820 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,771 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $34,330 as a midpoint for Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $28,150 and the ninetieth is $44,100 — 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 $28,551, worked from $34,330. 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 470 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $28,339, the adjusted value of that $34,330 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 470 of 489 in the state.
- The Virginia median of $34,330 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $28,150 to $44,100. 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 $28,551, on $34,330 for work ranking 470 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 470 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $28,339 — the adjusted value of that $34,330 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 470 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $28,150 at the tenth percentile, $44,100 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Virginia costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $28,339 rather than its face figure.
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; Virginia then takes its own share, leaving $28,551.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($28,150 to $44,100) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Virginia rather than a national figure.
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 $28,339 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 $28,551 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.
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.