Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Except Drafters, All Other in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$63,210
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$18,120
22.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,412
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
$81,330
Kept after tax
$63,210
Worth in national money
$70,412
State rank
13
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. West Virginia's middle earner gets $81,330, putting the state 13 of 49 — about 3.8% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in West Virginia. It ranks 73 out of 473 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $81,330 you keep $63,210, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $70,412 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $78,720, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other, West Virginia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $81,330, ranking 13 of 49 and running about 3.8% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Within West Virginia, engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other ranks 73 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.
- After federal, FICA and West Virginia income tax, retained pay for engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other on $81,330 is $63,210. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $70,412 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 $78,720 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Engineering Technologists and Technicians, Except Drafters, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,090 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $81,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $98,610 |
| This salary | $81,330 |
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 | $63,210 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $66,046 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,446 |
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 | $77,299 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,378 |
| 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 engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other in West Virginia earn under $81,330 and half over. The published range runs $47,090 at the tenth percentile to $98,610 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In West Virginia the take-home figure of $63,210, from $81,330, 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 73 of 473 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $70,412, the adjusted value of that $81,330 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 73 of 473 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for engineering technologists and technicians, except drafters, all other in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $47,090 to $98,610; 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 $63,210 from $81,330. 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 73 of 473 locally.
- This $70,412 adjusted figure, worked from $81,330, 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 73 of 473 in the state. The occupation ranks 73 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $78,720 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $47,090 at the bottom tenth to $98,610 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $70,412.
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 $63,210 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $78,720. 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 ($47,090 to $98,610) 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 $70,412 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 $63,210 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.