Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$59,928
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$16,412
21.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,756
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
$76,340
Kept after tax
$59,928
Worth in national money
$66,756
State rank
27
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $76,340, ranking 27 of 45 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 West Virginia. It ranks 93 out of 473 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $76,340 the take-home is $59,928; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $66,756 would nationally. The average lands at $71,590, below the middle of the range.
- West Virginia occupies the middle band for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary: a median of $76,340, ranking 27 of 45. 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 West Virginia, foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary ranks 93 of 473 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.
- Post-tax income for foreign language and literature teachers, postsecondary in West Virginia, on $76,340, is $59,928 — equivalent to $66,756 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 $71,590 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Foreign Language and Literature Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $50,310 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,340 |
| Top tenth earn over | $90,810 |
| This salary | $76,340 |
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 | $59,928 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,535 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,403 |
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 | $72,634 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,319 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $76,340 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $50,310 and the ninetieth is $90,810 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $59,928 take-home in West Virginia comes from $76,340. 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 93 of 473.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $66,756 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 93.
- The West Virginia median of $76,340 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $50,310 to $90,810. 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 $59,928, from $76,340, 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 93 of 473 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 45 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $66,756, worked from $76,340, 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 93 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $71,590, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $50,310 and the top tenth $90,810, so most people doing this work in West Virginia sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in West Virginia sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $66,756 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $59,928.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 West Virginia is $71,590. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($50,310 to $90,810) 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 $66,756 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 $59,928 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.