Food Preparation Workers in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$24,289
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$4,071
14.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,056
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
$28,360
Kept after tax
$24,289
Worth in national money
$27,056
State rank
46
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for food preparation workers is on the low side in West Virginia. The middle earner gets $28,360. That is 46 of 51 states, and about 19.71% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 473 occupations West Virginia publishes, food preparation workers lands at 454. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $28,360 you keep $24,289 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $27,056 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $28,450, since top earners drag the number up.
- For food preparation workers, West Virginia sits in the lower band at $28,360, ranking 46 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 19.71%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within West Virginia, this work ranks 454 of 473 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay in West Virginia is $24,289 after the full tax stack, from $28,360. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $27,056 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $28,450 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Food Preparation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $21,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $28,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $35,890 |
| This salary | $28,360 |
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 | $24,289 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $24,964 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,366 |
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 | $27,540 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,649 |
| 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 food preparation workers in West Virginia earn under $28,360 and half over. The published range runs $21,570 at the tenth percentile to $35,890 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $24,289 take-home in West Virginia comes from $28,360. 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 454 of 473.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $27,056 uses one figure for the whole of West Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 473 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 454.
- Figures are distribution medians for food preparation workers in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $21,570 to $35,890; 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.
- Retained pay of $24,289, from $28,360, assumes a single West 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 454 of 473 locally, and the state ranks 46 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $27,056, worked from $28,360, 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 West Virginia address, on work sitting at 454 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $21,570 at the tenth percentile, $35,890 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $27,056.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and West Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $24,289 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($21,570 to $35,890) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to West Virginia rather than a national figure.
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 $27,056 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 $24,289 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.
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.