Highway Maintenance Workers in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,302
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$7,958
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,552
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
$45,260
Kept after tax
$37,302
Worth in national money
$41,552
State rank
41
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. West Virginia pays highway maintenance workers a middle wage of $45,260, 41 of 49 states and about 9.95% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Against other work in West Virginia, this sits in the middle: 294 of 473 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $45,260 the take-home is $37,302; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $41,552 would nationally. The average comes to $45,290, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia's $45,260 median for highway maintenance workers places it 41 of 49 states, about 9.95% 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.
- Highway maintenance workers ranks 294 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.
- Post-tax income for highway maintenance workers in West Virginia, on $45,260, is $37,302 — equivalent to $41,552 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 $45,290 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Highway Maintenance Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,440 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,260 |
| Top tenth earn over | $53,910 |
| This salary | $45,260 |
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 | $37,302 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,546 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,885 |
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 | $43,712 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,280 |
| 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 $45,260. The published range is $31,440 up to $53,910, 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 $37,302, worked from $45,260. 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 294 of 473.
- One number stands for prices across all of West Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $41,552, the adjusted value of that $45,260 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 294 of 473 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for highway maintenance workers in West Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,440 to $53,910. 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 $37,302, on $45,260 for work ranking 294 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 294 of 473 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $41,552 — the adjusted value of that $45,260 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 294 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $31,440 and the top tenth $53,910, so most people doing this work in West Virginia sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $41,552 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $37,302.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,440 to $53,910) 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 $41,552 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 $37,302 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.