First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,985
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$26,245
25.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,428
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
$101,230
Kept after tax
$74,985
Worth in national money
$74,428
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Virginia sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $101,230, ranking 22 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Virginia. It ranks 79 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 $101,230 the take-home is $74,985, which is worth about $74,428 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $112,200, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Virginia occupies the middle band for first-line supervisors of police and detectives: a median of $101,230, ranking 22 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Within Virginia, first-line supervisors of police and detectives ranks 79 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 police and detectives on its $101,230 median: $74,985 retained after tax becomes $74,428 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $112,200 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: First-Line Supervisors of Police and Detectives
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $67,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $101,230 |
| Top tenth earn over | $179,030 |
| This salary | $101,230 |
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 | $74,985 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $80,045 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,945 |
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 | $94,037 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,974 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $101,230 as a midpoint for Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $67,690 and the ninetieth is $179,030 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $74,985 take-home in Virginia comes from $101,230. 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 79 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $74,428 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 79.
- The Virginia median of $101,230 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $67,690 to $179,030. 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 $74,985, from $101,230, 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 79 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 22 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $74,428, worked from $101,230, 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 79 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 $112,200, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $67,690, the highest tenth $179,030, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Virginia costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $74,428 rather than its face figure.
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 $74,985.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $112,200. 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 ($67,690) and the ninetieth ($179,030) 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.
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 $74,428 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 $74,985 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.
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.