Graphic Designers in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,547
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$6,803
16.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,369
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
$40,350
Kept after tax
$33,547
Worth in national money
$37,369
State rank
51
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for graphic designers is on the low side in West Virginia. The middle earner gets $40,350. That is 51 of 51 states, and about 35.91% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in West Virginia, this sits in the middle: 328 of 473 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $40,350 you keep $33,547 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $37,369 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $45,600, since top earners drag the number up.
- For graphic designers, West Virginia sits in the lower band at $40,350, ranking 51 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 35.91%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Graphic designers ranks 328 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.
- Retained pay in West Virginia is $33,547 after the full tax stack, from $40,350. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $37,369 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $45,600 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Graphic Designers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,530 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,640 |
| This salary | $40,350 |
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 | $33,547 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,601 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,762 |
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 | $39,038 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,131 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $40,350 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $29,530 and the ninetieth is $61,640 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In West Virginia the take-home figure of $33,547, from $40,350, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 328 of 473 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $37,369, the adjusted value of that $40,350 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 328 of 473 locally.
- The West Virginia median of $40,350 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $29,530 to $61,640. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for West Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $33,547 from $40,350. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 328 of 473 locally.
- This $37,369 adjusted figure, worked from $40,350, 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 328 of 473 in the state. The occupation ranks 328 of 473 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 $45,600 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $29,530, the highest tenth $61,640, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $37,369.
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 $33,547.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $45,600. 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 ($29,530) and the ninetieth ($61,640) 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 $37,369 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 $33,547 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.