Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,603
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$11,187
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,026
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
$58,790
Kept after tax
$47,603
Worth in national money
$53,026
State rank
33
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. West Virginia is 33 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $58,790. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in West Virginia, this sits in the middle: 175 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 $58,790 the take-home is $47,603; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $53,026 would nationally. The average lands at $58,600, below the middle of the range.
- West Virginia ranks 33 of 50 for kindergarten teachers, except special education at $58,790. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Kindergarten teachers, except special education ranks 175 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 kindergarten teachers, except special education in West Virginia, on $58,790, is $47,603 — equivalent to $53,026 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 $58,600 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Kindergarten Teachers, Except Special Education
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,210 |
| This salary | $58,790 |
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 | $47,603 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,418 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,172 |
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 | $56,531 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,627 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $58,790 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $47,630 and the ninetieth is $72,210 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $47,603 take-home in West Virginia comes from $58,790. 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 175 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 $53,026, the adjusted value of that $58,790 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 175 of 473 in the state.
- The West Virginia median of $58,790 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $47,630 to $72,210. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $47,603, from $58,790, 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 175 of 473 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 50 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $53,026 — the adjusted value of that $58,790 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 175 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $47,630 and the top tenth $72,210, 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 $53,026 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 $47,603 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 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 ($47,630 to $72,210) 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 $53,026 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 $47,603 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.