Forest and Conservation Technicians in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,413
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$10,187
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$49,473
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
$54,600
Kept after tax
$44,413
Worth in national money
$49,473
State rank
17
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 $54,600, ranking 17 of 45 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in West Virginia, this sits in the middle: 210 of 473 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $54,600 the take-home is $44,413; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $49,473 would nationally. The average comes to $57,630, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia occupies the middle band for forest and conservation technicians: a median of $54,600, ranking 17 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.
- Forest and conservation technicians ranks 210 of 473 occupations in West Virginia by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Post-tax income for forest and conservation technicians in West Virginia, on $54,600, is $44,413 — equivalent to $49,473 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 $57,630 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Forest and Conservation Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,330 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $54,600 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,780 |
| This salary | $54,600 |
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 | $44,413 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,051 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,083 |
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 | $52,561 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,519 |
| 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 forest and conservation technicians in West Virginia earn under $54,600 and half over. The published range runs $40,330 at the tenth percentile to $83,780 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind West Virginia's $44,413, worked from $54,600. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 210 of 473.
- One number stands for prices across all of West Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $49,473, the adjusted value of that $54,600 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 210 of 473 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for forest and conservation technicians in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $40,330 to $83,780; 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.
- The West Virginia take-home of $44,413, on $54,600 for work ranking 210 of 473 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 210 of 473 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $49,473 — the adjusted value of that $54,600 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 210 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 $57,630, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $40,330, the highest tenth $83,780, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. West Virginia is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $49,473 in national terms.
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 $44,413 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $57,630. 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 ($40,330) and the ninetieth ($83,780) 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.
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 $49,473 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 $44,413 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.