Industrial Engineers in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$80,987
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$27,373
25.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$90,215
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
$108,360
Kept after tax
$80,987
Worth in national money
$90,215
State rank
14
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. West Virginia pays industrial engineers a middle wage of $108,360, ranking 14 of 51 states and sitting about 5.78% above the national middle.
- Within West Virginia this is well-paid work. Of 473 occupations with published figures in the state, industrial engineers ranks 25 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $108,360 you keep $80,987 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $90,215 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $116,340, since top earners drag the number up.
- West Virginia's median for industrial engineers is $108,360, about 5.78% above the national figure and 14 of 51 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Ranked against every occupation West Virginia publishes a median for, industrial engineers sits 25 of 473 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Retained pay in West Virginia is $80,987 after the full tax stack, from $108,360. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $90,215 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $116,340 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Industrial Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $76,180 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $108,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $163,090 |
| This salary | $108,360 |
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 | $80,987 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $85,061 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,681 |
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 | $102,569 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,703 |
| 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 $108,360. The published range is $76,180 up to $163,090, 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 $80,987, worked from $108,360. 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 25 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 $90,215, the adjusted value of that $108,360 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 25 of 473 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for industrial engineers in West Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $76,180 to $163,090. 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 $80,987, on $108,360 for work ranking 25 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 25 of 473 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $90,215 — the adjusted value of that $108,360 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 25 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 $116,340, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $76,180 and the top tenth $163,090 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. West Virginia is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $90,215 in national terms.
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 $80,987.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $116,340. 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 ($76,180) and the ninetieth ($163,090) 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 $90,215 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 $80,987 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.