Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,689
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$4,481
14.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,616
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
$30,170
Kept after tax
$25,689
Worth in national money
$28,616
State rank
43
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. West Virginia pays food servers, nonrestaurant a middle wage of $30,170, 43 of 51 states and about 14.68% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within West Virginia this is lower-paid work. Of 473 occupations the state publishes figures for, food servers, nonrestaurant ranks 436. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $30,170 the take-home is $25,689; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $28,616 would nationally. The average comes to $30,410, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia's $30,170 median for food servers, nonrestaurant places it 43 of 51 states, about 14.68% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation West Virginia reports, food servers, nonrestaurant ranks 436 of 473, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Post-tax income for food servers, nonrestaurant in West Virginia, on $30,170, is $25,689 — equivalent to $28,616 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $30,410 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,480 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $38,280 |
| This salary | $30,170 |
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 | $25,689 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,422 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,426 |
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 | $29,258 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,725 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $30,170 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $22,480 and the ninetieth is $38,280 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $25,689 take-home in West Virginia comes from $30,170. 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 436 of 473.
- Two cautions on $28,616, the adjusted value of that $30,170 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of West 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 436 of 473 locally.
- The West Virginia median of $30,170 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $22,480 to $38,280. 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 $25,689, from $30,170, 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 436 of 473 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 51 for it.
- This $28,616 adjusted figure, worked from $30,170, 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 436 of 473 in the state. The occupation ranks 436 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $22,480 at the bottom tenth to $38,280 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $28,616.
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; West Virginia then takes its own share, leaving $25,689.
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 ($22,480 to $38,280) 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 $28,616 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 $25,689 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.