Insurance Sales Agents in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,470
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$8,010
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$41,739
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
$45,480
Kept after tax
$37,470
Worth in national money
$41,739
State rank
50
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia is among the lower-paying states for insurance sales agents. The middle earner takes $45,480, ranking 50 of 51 states — about 26.97% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Insurance sales agents ranks 291 among 473 occupations West Virginia publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $45,480 you keep $37,470 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $41,739 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $59,560, since top earners drag the number up.
- West Virginia ranks 50 of 51 for insurance sales agents, with a median of $45,480 — about 26.97% 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.
- Position 291 of 473 in West Virginia places insurance sales agents in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Retained pay in West Virginia is $37,470 after the full tax stack, from $45,480. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $41,739 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $59,560 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Insurance Sales Agents
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,420 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $106,490 |
| This salary | $45,480 |
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 | $37,470 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,723 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,890 |
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 | $43,920 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,286 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
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 insurance sales agents in West Virginia earn under $45,480 and half over. The published range runs $29,420 at the tenth percentile to $106,490 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $37,470 take-home in West Virginia comes from $45,480. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 291 of 473.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $41,739 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 291.
- Figures are distribution medians for insurance sales agents in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $29,420 to $106,490; 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.
- Retained pay of $37,470, from $45,480, assumes a single West Virginia filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 291 of 473 locally, and the state ranks 50 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $41,739, worked from $45,480, 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 291 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 $59,560 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $29,420 and the top tenth $106,490 — 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 $41,739 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 $37,470.
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 $59,560. 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 ($29,420) and the ninetieth ($106,490) 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 $41,739 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 $37,470 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.