Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,016
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$5,464
15.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$32,322
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
$34,480
Kept after tax
$29,016
Worth in national money
$32,322
State rank
30
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. West Virginia is 30 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $34,480. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within West Virginia this is lower-paid work. Of 473 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 408. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $34,480 the take-home is $29,016; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $32,322 would nationally. The average comes to $40,320, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia ranks 30 of 50 for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists at $34,480. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation West Virginia reports, hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists ranks 408 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 hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in West Virginia, on $34,480, is $29,016 — equivalent to $32,322 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 $40,320 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,580 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,300 |
| This salary | $34,480 |
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 | $29,016 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,885 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,568 |
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 | $33,399 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,897 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in West Virginia earn less than $34,480. The published range is $23,580 up to $60,300, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind West Virginia's $29,016, worked from $34,480. 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 408 of 473.
- Two cautions on $32,322, the adjusted value of that $34,480 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 408 of 473 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for hairdressers, hairstylists, and cosmetologists in West Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $23,580 to $60,300. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The West Virginia take-home of $29,016, on $34,480 for work ranking 408 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 408 of 473 in the state.
- This $32,322 adjusted figure, worked from $34,480, 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 408 of 473 in the state. The occupation ranks 408 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 $40,320, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $23,580 at the bottom tenth to $60,300 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $32,322 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $29,016 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $40,320. 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 ($23,580) and the ninetieth ($60,300) 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 $32,322 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 $29,016 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.