Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$45,113
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$10,407
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,253
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
$55,520
Kept after tax
$45,113
Worth in national money
$50,253
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $55,520, ranking 48 of 51 states — about 13.7% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 473 occupations West Virginia reports figures for, this is number 200.
- Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $55,520 you keep $45,113, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $50,253 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $55,100, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- West Virginia ranks 48 of 51 for educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors, with a median of $55,520 — about 13.7% 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.
- In West Virginia's occupational distribution, educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors sits at 200 of 473 — 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.
- After federal, FICA and West Virginia income tax, retained pay for educational, guidance, and career counselors and advisors on $55,520 is $45,113. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $50,253 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $55,100 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Educational, Guidance, and Career Counselors and Advisors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,940 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $55,520 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,090 |
| This salary | $55,520 |
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 | $45,113 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,790 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,103 |
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 | $53,433 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,543 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $55,520 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,940 and the ninetieth is $73,090 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $45,113 take-home in West Virginia comes from $55,520. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 200 of 473.
- One number stands for prices across all of West Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $50,253, the adjusted value of that $55,520 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 200 of 473 in the state.
- The West Virginia median of $55,520 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,940 to $73,090. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $45,113, from $55,520, assumes a single West Virginia filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 200 of 473 locally, and the state ranks 48 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $50,253 — the adjusted value of that $55,520 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 200 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,940 and the top tenth $73,090, so most people doing this work in West Virginia sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $50,253.
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 $45,113 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,940 to $73,090) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to West Virginia rather than a national figure.
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 $50,253 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 $45,113 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.
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.