Commercial Pilots in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$79,402
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$26,548
25.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$88,449
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
$105,950
Kept after tax
$79,402
Worth in national money
$88,449
State rank
27
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. West Virginia pays commercial pilots around $105,950 at the midpoint, 27 of 48 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in West Virginia. It ranks 27 out of 473 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $105,950 you keep $79,402, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $88,449 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $119,040, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For commercial pilots the West Virginia median is $105,950, ranking 27 of 48 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within West Virginia, commercial pilots ranks 27 of 473 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and West Virginia income tax, retained pay for commercial pilots on $105,950 is $79,402. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $88,449 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 $119,040 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Commercial Pilots
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $64,450 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $105,950 |
| Top tenth earn over | $174,170 |
| This salary | $105,950 |
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 | $79,402 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $83,366 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,660 |
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 | $100,316 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,674 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in West Virginia earn less than $105,950. The published range is $64,450 up to $174,170, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $79,402 take-home in West Virginia comes from $105,950. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 27 of 473.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $88,449 uses one figure for the whole of West Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 473 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 27.
- Reported values are medians; for commercial pilots in West Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $64,450 to $174,170. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $79,402, from $105,950, assumes a single West Virginia filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 27 of 473 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $88,449, worked from $105,950, 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 West Virginia address, on work sitting at 27 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 $119,040, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $64,450, the highest tenth $174,170, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $88,449 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 West Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $79,402 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 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 $119,040. 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 ($64,450) and the ninetieth ($174,170) 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 $88,449 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 $79,402 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.