Customer Service Representatives in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,817
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$7,913
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,558
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
$42,730
Kept after tax
$34,817
Worth in national money
$34,558
State rank
34
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Virginia sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $42,730, ranking 34 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Virginia, this one sits low: 401 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $42,730 the take-home is $34,817, which is worth about $34,558 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $44,960, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Virginia occupies the middle band for customer service representatives: a median of $42,730, ranking 34 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Customer service representatives occupies position 401 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.
- Virginia's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for customer service representatives on its $42,730 median: $34,817 retained after tax becomes $34,558 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $44,960 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Customer Service Representatives
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,350 |
| This salary | $42,730 |
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 | $34,817 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,514 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,017 |
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 | $40,619 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,648 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $42,730 as a midpoint for Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $31,210 and the ninetieth is $61,350 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Virginia the take-home figure of $34,817, from $42,730, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 401 of 489 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,558, the adjusted value of that $42,730 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 401 of 489 in the state.
- The Virginia median of $42,730 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $31,210 to $61,350. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $34,817 from $42,730. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 401 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $34,558 — the adjusted value of that $42,730 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 401 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 $44,960, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $31,210 at the tenth percentile, $61,350 at the ninetieth.
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 $34,558 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, $34,817 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 $44,960. 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 ($31,210 to $61,350) 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 $34,558 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 $34,817 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.