Computer Network Architects in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$100,505
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$40,835
28.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$99,758
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
$141,340
Kept after tax
$100,505
Worth in national money
$99,758
State rank
9
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for computer network architects is strong here. Virginia's middle earner gets $141,340, putting the state 9 of 51 — about 5.44% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Virginia this is well-paid work. Of 489 occupations with published figures in the state, computer network architects ranks 24 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $141,340 the take-home is $100,505, which is worth about $99,758 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $147,660, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For computer network architects, Virginia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $141,340, ranking 9 of 51 and running about 5.44% 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, computer network architects sits 24 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.
- Virginia's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for computer network architects on its $141,340 median: $100,505 retained after tax becomes $99,758 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $147,660 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Computer Network Architects
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $85,050 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $141,340 |
| Top tenth earn over | $210,180 |
| This salary | $141,340 |
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 | $100,505 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $107,872 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$11,250 |
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 | $130,562 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$15,994 |
| 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 $141,340. The published range is $85,050 up to $210,180, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Virginia's $100,505, worked from $141,340. 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 24 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $99,758, the adjusted value of that $141,340 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 24 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for computer network architects in Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $85,050 to $210,180. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Virginia take-home of $100,505, on $141,340 for work ranking 24 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 24 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $99,758 — the adjusted value of that $141,340 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 24 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 $147,660 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 $85,050 and the top tenth $210,180 — 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 $99,758 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 $100,505 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $147,660. 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 ($85,050) and the ninetieth ($210,180) 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 $99,758 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 $100,505 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.