Correctional Officers and Jailers in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,345
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$9,795
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,045
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
$50,140
Kept after tax
$40,345
Worth in national money
$40,045
State rank
36
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Virginia pays this job a middle wage of $50,140, 36 of 49 states and about 14.93% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Virginia reports figures for, this is number 310.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $50,140, take-home of $40,345 is worth roughly $40,045 in national money. The average comes to $54,450, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Virginia's $50,140 median for correctional officers and jailers places it 36 of 49 states, about 14.93% 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.
- In Virginia's occupational distribution, correctional officers and jailers sits at 310 of 489 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for correctional officers and jailers, whose median is $50,140, the adjusted figure of $40,045 differs little from $40,345 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $54,450 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Correctional Officers and Jailers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $50,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $70,570 |
| This salary | $50,140 |
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 | $40,345 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,467 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,657 |
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 | $47,499 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,423 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $50,140 as a midpoint for Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $46,320 and the ninetieth is $70,570 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Virginia's $40,345, worked from $50,140. 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 310 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $40,045, the adjusted value of that $50,140 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 310 of 489 in the state.
- The Virginia median of $50,140 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $46,320 to $70,570. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Virginia take-home of $40,345, on $50,140 for work ranking 310 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 310 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $40,045 — the adjusted value of that $50,140 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 310 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $54,450, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $46,320 and the top tenth $70,570, so most people doing this work in Virginia sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $40,045 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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; Virginia then takes its own share, leaving $40,345.
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.
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 $54,450. 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 ($46,320 to $70,570) 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 $40,045 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 $40,345 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.