Food Preparation Workers in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,976
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$5,924
17.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,761
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
$34,900
Kept after tax
$28,976
Worth in national money
$28,761
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Virginia sits in the middle of the pack for food preparation workers. The median is $34,900, ranking 24 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Virginia, this one sits low: 466 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $34,900 the take-home is $28,976, which is worth about $28,761 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $34,930, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Virginia occupies the middle band for food preparation workers: a median of $34,900, ranking 24 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.
- Food preparation workers occupies position 466 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.
- Virginia's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for food preparation workers on its $34,900 median: $28,976 retained after tax becomes $28,761 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $34,930 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Preparation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,460 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $42,480 |
| This salary | $34,900 |
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 | $28,976 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,222 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,340 |
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 | $33,349 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,830 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $34,900 as a midpoint for Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $28,460 and the ninetieth is $42,480 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $28,976 take-home in Virginia comes from $34,900. 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 466 of 489.
- Two cautions on $28,761, the adjusted value of that $34,900 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of 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 466 of 489 locally.
- The Virginia median of $34,900 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $28,460 to $42,480. 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 $28,976, from $34,900, 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 466 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 24 of 51 for it.
- This $28,761 adjusted figure, worked from $34,900, 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 466 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 466 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $28,460 at the tenth percentile, $42,480 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $28,761 of national purchasing power.
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 Virginia's own levy, $28,976 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($28,460 to $42,480) 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 $28,761 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 $28,976 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.