First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$72,757
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$25,024
25.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$72,216
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
$97,780
Kept after tax
$72,757
Worth in national money
$72,216
State rank
14
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Virginia's middle earner gets $97,780, putting the state 14 of 50 — about 4.54% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Virginia. It ranks 89 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $97,780 the take-home is $72,757, which is worth about $72,216 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $93,750, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers, Virginia sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $97,780, ranking 14 of 50 and running about 4.54% 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 Virginia, first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers ranks 89 of 489 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.
- Virginia's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers on its $97,780 median: $72,757 retained after tax becomes $72,216 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $93,750 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: First-Line Supervisors of Firefighting and Prevention Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,780 |
| Top tenth earn over | $124,780 |
| This salary | $97,780 |
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 | $72,757 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,618 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,659 |
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 | $90,869 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,580 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Virginia earn less than $97,780. The published range is $59,510 up to $124,780, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $72,757 take-home in Virginia comes from $97,780. 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 89 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $72,216, the adjusted value of that $97,780 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 89 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers in Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $59,510 to $124,780. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $72,757, from $97,780, assumes a single 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 89 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 14 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $72,216 — the adjusted value of that $97,780 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 89 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $93,750, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $59,510 at the tenth percentile, $124,780 at the ninetieth.
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 $72,216 — 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 $72,757.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 Virginia is $93,750. 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 ($59,510 to $124,780) 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 $72,216 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 $72,757 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.