Massage Therapists in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,357
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$12,863
20.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,990
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
$62,220
Kept after tax
$49,357
Worth in national money
$48,990
State rank
17
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Virginia sits in the middle of the pack for massage therapists. The median is $62,220, ranking 17 of 50 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Virginia reports figures for, this is number 223.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $62,220 the take-home is $49,357, which is worth about $48,990 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $72,490, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Virginia occupies the middle band for massage therapists: a median of $62,220, ranking 17 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Virginia's occupational distribution, massage therapists sits at 223 of 489 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Virginia's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for massage therapists on its $62,220 median: $49,357 retained after tax becomes $48,990 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $72,490 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Massage Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,070 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $119,570 |
| This salary | $62,220 |
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 | $49,357 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,174 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,701 |
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 | $58,714 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,685 |
| 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 massage therapists in Virginia earn under $62,220 and half over. The published range runs $38,070 at the tenth percentile to $119,570 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 $49,357, worked from $62,220. 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 223 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $48,990 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 223.
- Figures are distribution medians for massage therapists in Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,070 to $119,570; 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 $49,357, on $62,220 for work ranking 223 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 223 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $48,990, worked from $62,220, 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 223 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 $72,490 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $38,070 at the bottom tenth to $119,570 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $48,990 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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, $49,357 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $72,490. 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 ($38,070) and the ninetieth ($119,570) 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 $48,990 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 $49,357 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.