File Clerks in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,706
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$7,194
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,463
Virginia costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in 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
$39,900
Kept after tax
$32,706
Worth in national money
$32,463
State rank
34
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Virginia is among the lower-paying states for file clerks. The middle earner takes $39,900, ranking 34 of 49 states — about 8.49% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Virginia, this one sits low: 413 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $39,900, tax leaves $32,706, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $32,463 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $41,980, since top earners drag the number up.
- Virginia ranks 34 of 49 for file clerks, with a median of $39,900 — about 8.49% 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.
- File clerks occupies position 413 of 489 in Virginia's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Because Virginia sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for file clerks — median $39,900 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $32,706 retained, $32,463 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $41,980 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: File Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,970 |
| This salary | $39,900 |
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 Virginia | $32,706 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,240 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,772 |
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 | $37,991 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,353 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
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 file clerks in Virginia earn under $39,900 and half over. The published range runs $31,200 at the tenth percentile to $56,970 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Virginia the take-home figure of $32,706, from $39,900, 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 413 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $32,463 uses one figure for the whole of Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 413.
- Figures are distribution medians for file clerks in Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,200 to $56,970; 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 Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,706 from $39,900. 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 413 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $32,463, worked from $39,900, 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 Virginia address, on work sitting at 413 of 489 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 $41,980 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 $31,200 at the bottom tenth to $56,970 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Virginia run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $32,463 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Virginia then takes its own share, leaving $32,706.
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 49 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 Virginia is $41,980. 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 ($31,200 to $56,970) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Virginia rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Virginia's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $32,463 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $32,706 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and 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.