Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,917
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$5,223
16.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,717
Virginia costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in 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
$32,140
Kept after tax
$26,917
Worth in national money
$26,717
State rank
35
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Virginia pays laundry and dry-cleaning workers a middle wage of $32,140, 35 of 51 states and about 7.88% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Virginia this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, laundry and dry-cleaning workers ranks 478. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $32,140, take-home of $26,917 is worth roughly $26,717 in national money. The average comes to $32,730, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Virginia's $32,140 median for laundry and dry-cleaning workers places it 35 of 51 states, about 7.88% 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.
- Against every occupation Virginia reports, laundry and dry-cleaning workers ranks 478 of 489, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for laundry and dry-cleaning workers, whose median is $32,140, the adjusted figure of $26,717 differs little from $26,917 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $32,730 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,490 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $32,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $38,500 |
| This salary | $32,140 |
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 Virginia | $26,917 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,004 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,102 |
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 | $30,787 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,542 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
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 laundry and dry-cleaning workers in Virginia earn under $32,140 and half over. The published range runs $26,490 at the tenth percentile to $38,500 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $26,917 take-home in Virginia comes from $32,140. 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 478 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $26,717 uses one figure for the whole of Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 478.
- Figures are distribution medians for laundry and dry-cleaning workers in Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $26,490 to $38,500; 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 $26,917, from $32,140, assumes a single 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 478 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 35 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $26,717, worked from $32,140, 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 Virginia address, on work sitting at 478 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $26,490 at the bottom tenth to $38,500 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $26,717 of national purchasing power.
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 Virginia's own levy, $26,917 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($26,490 to $38,500) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Virginia rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Virginia's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $26,717 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $26,917 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and 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.