Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$24,763
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$4,207
14.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,584
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
$28,970
Kept after tax
$24,763
Worth in national money
$27,584
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia is among the lower-paying states for laundry and dry-cleaning workers. The middle earner takes $28,970, ranking 45 of 51 states — about 16.97% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in West Virginia, this one sits low: 446 of 473 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $28,970 the take-home is $24,763; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $27,584 would nationally. The average comes to $30,280, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia ranks 45 of 51 for laundry and dry-cleaning workers, with a median of $28,970 — about 16.97% 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.
- Laundry and dry-cleaning workers occupies position 446 of 473 in West Virginia's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for laundry and dry-cleaning workers in West Virginia, on $28,970, is $24,763 — equivalent to $27,584 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 $30,280 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,070 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $28,970 |
| Top tenth earn over | $37,030 |
| This salary | $28,970 |
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 | $24,763 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,457 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,386 |
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 | $28,115 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,677 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $28,970 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $23,070 and the ninetieth is $37,030 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In West Virginia the take-home figure of $24,763, from $28,970, 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 446 of 473 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of West Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $27,584, the adjusted value of that $28,970 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 446 of 473 in the state.
- The West Virginia median of $28,970 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $23,070 to $37,030. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for West Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $24,763 from $28,970. 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 446 of 473 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $27,584 — the adjusted value of that $28,970 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 446 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $30,280, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $23,070 and the top tenth $37,030, so most people doing this work in West Virginia sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $27,584.
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 $24,763 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $30,280. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($23,070 to $37,030) 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 $27,584 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 $24,763 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.