Construction Laborers in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,436
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$8,124
18.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,173
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
$43,560
Kept after tax
$35,436
Worth in national money
$35,173
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Virginia pays construction laborers a middle wage of $43,560, 41 of 51 states and about 7.56% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Virginia this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, construction laborers ranks 395. 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 $43,560, take-home of $35,436 is worth roughly $35,173 in national money. The average comes to $43,670, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Virginia's $43,560 median for construction laborers places it 41 of 51 states, about 7.56% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Virginia reports, construction laborers ranks 395 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 construction laborers, whose median is $43,560, the adjusted figure of $35,173 differs little from $35,436 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $43,670 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Construction Laborers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,900 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $43,560 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,110 |
| This salary | $43,560 |
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 | $35,436 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,180 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,088 |
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 | $41,389 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,735 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $43,560 as a midpoint for Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $32,900 and the ninetieth is $57,110 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $35,436 take-home in Virginia comes from $43,560. 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 395 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $35,173, the adjusted value of that $43,560 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 395 of 489 in the state.
- The Virginia median of $43,560 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $32,900 to $57,110. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $35,436, from $43,560, 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 395 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $35,173 — the adjusted value of that $43,560 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 395 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $32,900 at the tenth percentile, $57,110 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Virginia run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $35,173 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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, $35,436 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($32,900 to $57,110) 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 $35,173 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 $35,436 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.