Library Technicians in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,789
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$4,511
14.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,728
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
$30,300
Kept after tax
$25,789
Worth in national money
$28,728
State rank
46
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for library technicians is on the low side in West Virginia. The middle earner gets $30,300. That is 46 of 51 states, and about 32.03% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 473 occupations West Virginia publishes, library technicians lands at 435. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $30,300 you keep $25,789 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $28,728 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $34,650, since top earners drag the number up.
- For library technicians, West Virginia sits in the lower band at $30,300, ranking 46 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 32.03%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within West Virginia, this work ranks 435 of 473 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay in West Virginia is $25,789 after the full tax stack, from $30,300. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $28,728 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $34,650 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Library Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,010 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,560 |
| This salary | $30,300 |
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 | $25,789 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,526 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,430 |
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 | $29,383 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,730 |
| 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 library technicians in West Virginia earn under $30,300 and half over. The published range runs $27,010 at the tenth percentile to $47,560 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In West Virginia the take-home figure of $25,789, from $30,300, 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 435 of 473 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $28,728, the adjusted value of that $30,300 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 435 of 473 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for library technicians in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $27,010 to $47,560; 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 $25,789 from $30,300. 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 435 of 473 locally.
- This $28,728 adjusted figure, worked from $30,300, 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 435 of 473 in the state. The occupation ranks 435 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 $34,650 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $27,010 at the bottom tenth to $47,560 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $28,728 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 $25,789.
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 $34,650. 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 ($27,010 to $47,560) 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 $28,728 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 $25,789 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.