Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,430
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$6,760
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,197
Virginia costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in 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
$38,190
Kept after tax
$31,430
Worth in national money
$31,197
State rank
36
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Virginia pays this job a middle wage of $38,190, 36 of 48 states and about 9.84% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Virginia this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 428. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $38,190, take-home of $31,430 is worth roughly $31,197 in national money. The average comes to $40,700, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Virginia's $38,190 median for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters places it 36 of 48 states, about 9.84% 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.
- Against every occupation Virginia reports, helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters ranks 428 of 489, 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.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters, whose median is $38,190, the adjusted figure of $31,197 differs little from $31,430 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $40,700 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,860 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $38,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,570 |
| This salary | $38,190 |
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 Virginia | $31,430 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,866 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,624 |
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 | $36,404 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,174 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
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 helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in Virginia earn under $38,190 and half over. The published range runs $30,860 at the tenth percentile to $49,570 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 Virginia's $31,430, worked from $38,190. 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 428 of 489.
- Two cautions on $31,197, the adjusted value of that $38,190 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of 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 428 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for helpers--pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters in Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $30,860 to $49,570; 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 Virginia take-home of $31,430, on $38,190 for work ranking 428 of 489 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 428 of 489 in the state.
- This $31,197 adjusted figure, worked from $38,190, 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 428 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 428 of 489 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 $40,700 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $30,860 and the top tenth $49,570, so most people doing this work in Virginia sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Virginia run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $31,197 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 Virginia's own levy, $31,430 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 48 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 Virginia is $40,700. 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 ($30,860 to $49,570) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Virginia rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Virginia's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $31,197 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $31,430 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.