Fence Erectors in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,135
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$7,905
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,366
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
$45,040
Kept after tax
$37,135
Worth in national money
$41,366
State rank
33
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for fence erectors is on the low side in West Virginia. The middle earner gets $45,040. That is 33 of 45 states, and about 6.13% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in West Virginia, this sits in the middle: 295 of 473 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $45,040 the take-home is $37,135; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $41,366 would nationally. The average comes to $53,090, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For fence erectors, West Virginia sits in the lower band at $45,040, ranking 33 of 45 and trailing the national median by about 6.13%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Fence erectors ranks 295 of 473 occupations in West Virginia by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for fence erectors in West Virginia, on $45,040, is $37,135 — equivalent to $41,366 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 $53,090 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Fence Erectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,040 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,960 |
| This salary | $45,040 |
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 | $37,135 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,370 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,881 |
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 | $43,503 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,274 |
| 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 fence erectors in West Virginia earn under $45,040 and half over. The published range runs $30,700 at the tenth percentile to $82,960 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In West Virginia the take-home figure of $37,135, from $45,040, 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 295 of 473 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $41,366, the adjusted value of that $45,040 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 295 of 473 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for fence erectors in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,700 to $82,960; 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 $37,135 from $45,040. 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 295 of 473 locally.
- This $41,366 adjusted figure, worked from $45,040, 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 295 of 473 in the state. The occupation ranks 295 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 $53,090, 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 $30,700, the highest tenth $82,960, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. West Virginia is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $41,366 in national terms.
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, $37,135 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 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 $53,090. 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 ($30,700) and the ninetieth ($82,960) 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 $41,366 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 $37,135 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.