Cooks, Fast Food in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$20,126
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$2,994
13.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$22,419
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
$23,120
Kept after tax
$20,126
Worth in national money
$22,419
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia is among the lower-paying states for cooks, fast food. The middle earner takes $23,120, ranking 50 of 51 states — about 25.15% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in West Virginia, this one sits low: 473 of 473 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $23,120 you keep $20,126 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $22,419 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $24,720, since top earners drag the number up.
- West Virginia ranks 50 of 51 for cooks, fast food, with a median of $23,120 — about 25.15% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Cooks, fast food occupies position 473 of 473 in West Virginia's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Retained pay in West Virginia is $20,126 after the full tax stack, from $23,120. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $22,419 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $24,720 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Cooks, Fast Food
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $21,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $23,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $28,300 |
| This salary | $23,120 |
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 | $20,126 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $20,649 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,169 |
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 | $22,484 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,380 |
| 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 $23,120. The published range is $21,600 up to $28,300, 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 West Virginia's $20,126, worked from $23,120. 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 473 of 473.
- Two cautions on $22,419, the adjusted value of that $23,120 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of West Virginia. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 473 of 473 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for cooks, fast food in West Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $21,600 to $28,300. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The West Virginia take-home of $20,126, on $23,120 for work ranking 473 of 473 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 473 of 473 in the state.
- This $22,419 adjusted figure, worked from $23,120, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 473 of 473 in the state. The occupation ranks 473 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 $24,720, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $21,600 at the bottom tenth to $28,300 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. West Virginia is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $22,419 in national terms.
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; West Virginia then takes its own share, leaving $20,126.
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 West Virginia is $24,720. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($21,600 to $28,300) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to West Virginia rather than a national figure.
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 $22,419 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 $20,126 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.
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.