Healthcare Social Workers in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,630
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$11,510
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,171
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
$60,140
Kept after tax
$48,630
Worth in national money
$54,171
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia is among the lower-paying states for healthcare social workers. The middle earner takes $60,140, ranking 45 of 51 states — about 11.4% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in West Virginia, this sits in the middle: 170 of 473 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $60,140 you keep $48,630, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $54,171 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $63,470, because the best-paid pull it up.
- West Virginia ranks 45 of 51 for healthcare social workers, with a median of $60,140 — about 11.4% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Healthcare social workers ranks 170 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.
- After federal, FICA and West Virginia income tax, retained pay for healthcare social workers on $60,140 is $48,630. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $54,171 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $63,470 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Healthcare Social Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,800 |
| This salary | $60,140 |
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 | $48,630 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,502 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,200 |
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 | $57,810 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,661 |
| 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 $60,140. The published range is $46,120 up to $79,800, 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 $48,630, worked from $60,140. 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 170 of 473.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $54,171 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 170.
- Reported values are medians; for healthcare social workers in West Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $46,120 to $79,800. 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 $48,630, on $60,140 for work ranking 170 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 170 of 473 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $54,171, worked from $60,140, 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 170 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $63,470, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $46,120 at the bottom tenth to $79,800 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $54,171 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 $48,630 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $63,470. 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 ($46,120 to $79,800) 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 $54,171 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 $48,630 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.