Data Scientists in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$65,683
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$19,407
22.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$73,166
West Virginia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in West 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
$85,090
Kept after tax
$65,683
Worth in national money
$73,166
State rank
45
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. West Virginia pays data scientists a middle wage of $85,090, 45 of 49 states and about 29.23% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 473 occupations West Virginia reports, data scientists comes in at 59 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $85,090 the take-home is $65,683; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $73,166 would nationally. The average comes to $90,730, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia's $85,090 median for data scientists places it 45 of 49 states, about 29.23% 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.
- Data scientists ranks 59 of 473 occupations by median in West Virginia, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for data scientists in West Virginia, on $85,090, is $65,683 — equivalent to $73,166 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $90,730 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Data Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $57,500 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $85,090 |
| Top tenth earn over | $125,100 |
| This salary | $85,090 |
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 West Virginia | $65,683 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $68,691 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,478 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $80,814 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,424 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in West Virginia earn less than $85,090. The published range is $57,500 up to $125,100, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind West Virginia's $65,683, worked from $85,090. 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 59 of 473.
- Two cautions on $73,166, the adjusted value of that $85,090 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of West Virginia. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 59 of 473 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for data scientists in West Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $57,500 to $125,100. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The West Virginia take-home of $65,683, on $85,090 for work ranking 59 of 473 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 59 of 473 in the state.
- This $73,166 adjusted figure, worked from $85,090, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 59 of 473 in the state. The occupation ranks 59 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $90,730, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $57,500 at the bottom tenth to $125,100 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in West Virginia sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $73,166 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 West Virginia's own levy, $65,683 remains.
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 West Virginia is $90,730. 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 ($57,500) and the ninetieth ($125,100) 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.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
West Virginia's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $73,166 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $65,683 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and West 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.