Cost Estimators in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$61,613
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$18,917
23.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$61,155
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
$80,530
Kept after tax
$61,613
Worth in national money
$61,155
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for cost estimators is strong here. Virginia's middle earner gets $80,530, putting the state 16 of 51 — about 2.27% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in Virginia, this sits in the middle: 128 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $80,530, take-home of $61,613 is worth roughly $61,155 in national money. The average comes to $86,110, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For cost estimators, Virginia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $80,530, ranking 16 of 51 and running about 2.27% 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.
- Cost estimators ranks 128 of 489 occupations in Virginia by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for cost estimators, whose median is $80,530, the adjusted figure of $61,155 differs little from $61,613 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $86,110 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Cost Estimators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,820 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,530 |
| Top tenth earn over | $129,330 |
| This salary | $80,530 |
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 | $61,613 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,483 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,232 |
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 | $75,029 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$8,608 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of cost estimators in Virginia earn under $80,530 and half over. The published range runs $49,820 at the tenth percentile to $129,330 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Virginia's $61,613, worked from $80,530. 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 128 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $61,155 uses one figure for the whole of Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 128.
- Figures are distribution medians for cost estimators in Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $49,820 to $129,330; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Virginia take-home of $61,613, on $80,530 for work ranking 128 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 128 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $61,155, worked from $80,530, 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 Virginia address, on work sitting at 128 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 $86,110, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $49,820, the highest tenth $129,330, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $61,155 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 $61,613 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $86,110. 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 ($49,820) and the ninetieth ($129,330) 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 $61,155 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 $61,613 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.