Couriers and Messengers in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,154
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$6,666
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,923
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
$37,820
Kept after tax
$31,154
Worth in national money
$30,923
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Virginia is among the lower-paying states for couriers and messengers. The middle earner takes $37,820, ranking 36 of 51 states — about 3.52% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Virginia, this one sits low: 433 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $37,820, tax leaves $31,154, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $30,923 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $41,330, since top earners drag the number up.
- Virginia ranks 36 of 51 for couriers and messengers, with a median of $37,820 — about 3.52% 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.
- Couriers and messengers occupies position 433 of 489 in 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.
- Because Virginia sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for couriers and messengers — median $37,820 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $31,154 retained, $30,923 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $41,330 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Couriers and Messengers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,820 |
| Top tenth earn over | $54,910 |
| This salary | $37,820 |
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 | $31,154 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,568 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,592 |
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 | $36,060 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,135 |
| 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 couriers and messengers in Virginia earn under $37,820 and half over. The published range runs $31,180 at the tenth percentile to $54,910 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 $31,154, worked from $37,820. 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 433 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $30,923 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 433.
- Figures are distribution medians for couriers and messengers in Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,180 to $54,910; 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 $31,154, on $37,820 for work ranking 433 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 433 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $30,923, worked from $37,820, 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 433 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $41,330, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $31,180 at the bottom tenth to $54,910 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $30,923 of national purchasing power.
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, $31,154 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.
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 $41,330. 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 ($31,180 to $54,910) 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 $30,923 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 $31,154 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.