Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,165
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$16,535
21.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,019
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
$76,700
Kept after tax
$60,165
Worth in national money
$67,019
State rank
45
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. West Virginia pays this job a middle wage of $76,700, 45 of 45 states and about 33.4% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 473 occupations West Virginia reports, this job comes in at 91 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $76,700 the take-home is $60,165; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $67,019 would nationally. The average comes to $80,990, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia's $76,700 median for health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors places it 45 of 45 states, about 33.4% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors ranks 91 of 473 occupations by median in West Virginia, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors in West Virginia, on $76,700, is $60,165 — equivalent to $67,019 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 $80,990 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Health and Safety Engineers, Except Mining Safety Engineers and Inspectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,400 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $76,700 |
| Top tenth earn over | $137,710 |
| This salary | $76,700 |
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 | $60,165 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $62,788 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,406 |
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 | $72,970 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,323 |
| 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 $76,700. The published range is $32,400 up to $137,710, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In West Virginia the take-home figure of $60,165, from $76,700, 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 91 of 473 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $67,019 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 91.
- Reported values are medians; for health and safety engineers, except mining safety engineers and inspectors in West Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $32,400 to $137,710. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for West Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $60,165 from $76,700. 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 91 of 473 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $67,019, worked from $76,700, 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 91 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 $80,990 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $32,400 at the bottom tenth to $137,710 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $67,019.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and West Virginia's own levy, $60,165 remains.
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 45 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 $80,990. 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 ($32,400) and the ninetieth ($137,710) 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 $67,019 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 $60,165 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.