Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,923
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$6,247
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,701
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
$36,170
Kept after tax
$29,923
Worth in national money
$29,701
State rank
39
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Virginia pays this job a middle wage of $36,170, 39 of 50 states and about 5.56% 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, this job ranks 454. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $36,170 the take-home is $29,923, which is worth about $29,701 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $35,460, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Virginia's $36,170 median for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers places it 39 of 50 states, about 5.56% 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, meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers ranks 454 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.
- Virginia's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers on its $36,170 median: $29,923 retained after tax becomes $29,701 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $35,460 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $43,240 |
| This salary | $36,170 |
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 | $29,923 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,243 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,450 |
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 | $34,528 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,963 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Virginia earn less than $36,170. The published range is $29,470 up to $43,240, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Virginia the take-home figure of $29,923, from $36,170, 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 454 of 489 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $29,701, the adjusted value of that $36,170 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of 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 454 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for meat, poultry, and fish cutters and trimmers in Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $29,470 to $43,240. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $29,923 from $36,170. 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 454 of 489 locally.
- This $29,701 adjusted figure, worked from $36,170, 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 454 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 454 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $29,470 at the bottom tenth to $43,240 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 $29,701 of national purchasing power.
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; Virginia then takes its own share, leaving $29,923.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($29,470 to $43,240) 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 $29,701 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 $29,923 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.