Cooks, Short Order in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$23,560
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$3,880
14.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,245
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
$27,440
Kept after tax
$23,560
Worth in national money
$26,245
State rank
42
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia is among the lower-paying states for cooks, short order. The middle earner takes $27,440, ranking 42 of 49 states — about 23.52% 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: 460 of 473 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $27,440 the take-home is $23,560; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $26,245 would nationally. The average comes to $28,120, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia ranks 42 of 49 for cooks, short order, with a median of $27,440 — about 23.52% 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, short order occupies position 460 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.
- Post-tax income for cooks, short order in West Virginia, on $27,440, is $23,560 — equivalent to $26,245 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $28,120 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Cooks, Short Order
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $20,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $27,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $36,210 |
| This salary | $27,440 |
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 | $23,560 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $24,207 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,334 |
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 | $26,655 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,587 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $27,440 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $20,120 and the ninetieth is $36,210 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $23,560 take-home in West Virginia comes from $27,440. 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 460 of 473.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $26,245 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 460.
- The West Virginia median of $27,440 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $20,120 to $36,210. 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 $23,560, from $27,440, 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 460 of 473 locally, and the state ranks 42 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $26,245, worked from $27,440, 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 460 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $20,120 at the bottom tenth to $36,210 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $26,245.
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 $23,560 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($20,120 to $36,210) 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 $26,245 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 $23,560 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.