Labor Relations Specialists in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$67,610
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$20,410
23.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,313
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
$88,020
Kept after tax
$67,610
Worth in national money
$75,313
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia sits in the middle of the pack for labor relations specialists. The median is $88,020, ranking 20 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 473 occupations West Virginia reports, labor relations specialists comes in at 53 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $88,020 you keep $67,610 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $75,313 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $94,600, since top earners drag the number up.
- West Virginia occupies the middle band for labor relations specialists: a median of $88,020, ranking 20 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Labor relations specialists ranks 53 of 473 occupations by median in West Virginia, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Retained pay in West Virginia is $67,610 after the full tax stack, from $88,020. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $75,313 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $94,600 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Labor Relations Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $65,500 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $88,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $135,250 |
| This salary | $88,020 |
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 | $67,610 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $70,752 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,504 |
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 | $83,553 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,459 |
| 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 labor relations specialists in West Virginia earn under $88,020 and half over. The published range runs $65,500 at the tenth percentile to $135,250 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In West Virginia the take-home figure of $67,610, from $88,020, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 53 of 473 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $75,313, the adjusted value of that $88,020 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of West 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 53 of 473 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for labor relations specialists in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $65,500 to $135,250; 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.
- Take-home for West Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $67,610 from $88,020. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 53 of 473 locally.
- This $75,313 adjusted figure, worked from $88,020, 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 53 of 473 in the state. The occupation ranks 53 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 $94,600, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $65,500 at the bottom tenth to $135,250 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $75,313 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 West Virginia's own levy, $67,610 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $94,600. 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 ($65,500) and the ninetieth ($135,250) 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 $75,313 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 $67,610 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.