Locksmiths and Safe Repairers in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,919
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$10,671
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,600
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
$53,590
Kept after tax
$42,919
Worth in national money
$42,600
State rank
21
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Virginia is 21 of 48 states for locksmiths and safe repairers, with a middle wage of $53,590. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Locksmiths and safe repairers ranks 284 among 489 occupations Virginia publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $53,590, take-home of $42,919 is worth roughly $42,600 in national money. The average comes to $56,140, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Virginia ranks 21 of 48 for locksmiths and safe repairers at $53,590. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 284 of 489 in Virginia places locksmiths and safe repairers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for locksmiths and safe repairers, whose median is $53,590, the adjusted figure of $42,600 differs little from $42,919 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $56,140 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Locksmiths and Safe Repairers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,870 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,200 |
| This salary | $53,590 |
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 | $42,919 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $45,240 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,955 |
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 | $50,702 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,783 |
| 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 locksmiths and safe repairers in Virginia earn under $53,590 and half over. The published range runs $34,870 at the tenth percentile to $76,200 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Virginia's $42,919, worked from $53,590. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 284 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $42,600, the adjusted value of that $53,590 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 284 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for locksmiths and safe repairers in Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,870 to $76,200; 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.
- The Virginia take-home of $42,919, on $53,590 for work ranking 284 of 489 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 284 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $42,600 — the adjusted value of that $53,590 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 284 of 489 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 $56,140 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $34,870 and the top tenth $76,200 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Virginia run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $42,600 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $42,919 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 48 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 Virginia is $56,140. 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 ($34,870) and the ninetieth ($76,200) 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.
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 $42,600 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 $42,919 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.
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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.