Credit Counselors in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$41,397
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$10,153
19.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,089
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
$51,550
Kept after tax
$41,397
Worth in national money
$41,089
State rank
25
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Virginia sits in the middle of the pack for credit counselors. The median is $51,550, ranking 25 of 46 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Virginia reports figures for, this is number 299.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $51,550 the take-home is $41,397, which is worth about $41,089 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $54,630, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Virginia occupies the middle band for credit counselors: a median of $51,550, ranking 25 of 46. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Virginia's occupational distribution, credit counselors sits at 299 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.
- Virginia's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for credit counselors on its $51,550 median: $41,397 retained after tax becomes $41,089 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $54,630 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Credit Counselors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,930 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $51,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $70,200 |
| This salary | $51,550 |
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 | $41,397 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $43,600 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,779 |
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 | $48,808 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,570 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $51,550 as a midpoint for Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $40,930 and the ninetieth is $70,200 — 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 $41,397, worked from $51,550. 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 299 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,089 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 299.
- The Virginia median of $51,550 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $40,930 to $70,200. 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 $41,397, on $51,550 for work ranking 299 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 299 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,089, worked from $51,550, 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 299 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 $54,630, 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 $40,930 at the bottom tenth to $70,200 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Virginia costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $41,089 rather than its face figure.
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 $41,397.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $54,630. 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 ($40,930 to $70,200) 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 $41,089 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 $41,397 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.