Dentists, General in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$120,800
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$49,570
29.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$134,563
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
$170,370
Kept after tax
$120,800
Worth in national money
$134,563
State rank
23
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. West Virginia pays dentists, general around $170,370 at the midpoint, 23 of 47 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in West Virginia. It ranks 3 out of 473 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $170,370 the take-home is $120,800; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $134,563 would nationally. The average comes to $200,640, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For dentists, general the West Virginia median is $170,370, ranking 23 of 47 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within West Virginia, dentists, general ranks 3 of 473 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Post-tax income for dentists, general in West Virginia, on $170,370, is $120,800 — equivalent to $134,563 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 $200,640 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Dentists, General
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $96,270 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $170,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $362,930 |
| This salary | $170,370 |
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 | $120,800 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $127,714 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$3,136 |
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 | $160,255 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$4,459 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
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 dentists, general in West Virginia earn under $170,370 and half over. The published range runs $96,270 at the tenth percentile to $362,930 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In West Virginia the take-home figure of $120,800, from $170,370, 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 3 of 473 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $134,563 uses one figure for the whole of West Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 473 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 3.
- Figures are distribution medians for dentists, general in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $96,270 to $362,930; 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.
- Take-home for West Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $120,800 from $170,370. 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 3 of 473 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $134,563, worked from $170,370, 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 West Virginia address, on work sitting at 3 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 $200,640, 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 $96,270, the highest tenth $362,930, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $134,563 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 West Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $120,800 of this wage survives to your account.
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 47 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 West Virginia is $200,640. 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 ($96,270) and the ninetieth ($362,930) 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 $134,563 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 $120,800 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.