Food Service Managers in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$55,605
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$15,625
21.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,192
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
$71,230
Kept after tax
$55,605
Worth in national money
$55,192
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Virginia is 22 of 51 states for food service managers, with a middle wage of $71,230. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Food service managers ranks 174 among 489 occupations Virginia publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $71,230, take-home of $55,605 is worth roughly $55,192 in national money. The average comes to $76,060, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Virginia ranks 22 of 51 for food service managers at $71,230. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 174 of 489 in Virginia places food service managers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for food service managers, whose median is $71,230, the adjusted figure of $55,192 differs little from $55,605 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $76,060 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Service Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,970 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $71,230 |
| Top tenth earn over | $103,470 |
| This salary | $71,230 |
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 | $55,605 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $58,940 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,462 |
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 | $66,491 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,194 |
| 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 $71,230. The published range is $50,970 up to $103,470, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $55,605 take-home in Virginia comes from $71,230. 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 174 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $55,192 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 174.
- Reported values are medians; for food service managers in Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $50,970 to $103,470. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $55,605, from $71,230, 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 174 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 $55,192, worked from $71,230, 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 174 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $76,060 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $50,970 and the top tenth $103,470 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $55,192 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $55,605 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $76,060. 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 ($50,970) and the ninetieth ($103,470) 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 $55,192 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 $55,605 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.