Compensation and Benefits Managers in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$108,218
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$45,442
29.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$107,413
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
$153,660
Kept after tax
$108,218
Worth in national money
$107,413
State rank
13
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Virginia's middle earner gets $153,660, putting the state 13 of 45 — about 2.97% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Virginia. It ranks 19 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $153,660, take-home of $108,218 is worth roughly $107,413 in national money. The average comes to $177,030, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For compensation and benefits managers, Virginia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $153,660, ranking 13 of 45 and running about 2.97% 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.
- Within Virginia, compensation and benefits managers ranks 19 of 489 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.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for compensation and benefits managers, whose median is $153,660, the adjusted figure of $107,413 differs little from $108,218 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $177,030 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Compensation and Benefits Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $110,070 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $153,660 |
| Top tenth earn over | $281,000 |
| This salary | $153,660 |
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 | $108,218 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $116,293 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$12,260 |
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 | $141,846 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$17,431 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Virginia earn less than $153,660. The published range is $110,070 up to $281,000, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $108,218 take-home in Virginia comes from $153,660. 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 19 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $107,413 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 19.
- Reported values are medians; for compensation and benefits managers in Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $110,070 to $281,000. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $108,218, from $153,660, assumes a single 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 19 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 13 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $107,413, worked from $153,660, 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 19 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 $177,030 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 $110,070, the highest tenth $281,000, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $107,413 of national purchasing power.
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 Virginia's own levy, $108,218 remains.
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 Virginia is $177,030. 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 ($110,070) and the ninetieth ($281,000) 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 $107,413 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 $108,218 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.