Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$64,104
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$18,586
22.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,408
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
$82,690
Kept after tax
$64,104
Worth in national money
$71,408
State rank
32
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $82,690, ranking 32 of 46 states — about 20.04% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 473 occupations West Virginia reports, this job comes in at 67 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $82,690 the take-home is $64,104; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $71,408 would nationally. The average comes to $100,220, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia ranks 32 of 46 for medical scientists, except epidemiologists, with a median of $82,690 — about 20.04% 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.
- Medical scientists, except epidemiologists ranks 67 of 473 occupations by median in West Virginia, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Post-tax income for medical scientists, except epidemiologists in West Virginia, on $82,690, is $64,104 — equivalent to $71,408 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 $100,220 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: Medical Scientists, Except Epidemiologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,950 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $82,690 |
| Top tenth earn over | $173,900 |
| This salary | $82,690 |
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 | $64,104 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,002 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,458 |
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 | $78,570 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,395 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $82,690 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $61,950 and the ninetieth is $173,900 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind West Virginia's $64,104, worked from $82,690. 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 67 of 473.
- One number stands for prices across all of West Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $71,408, the adjusted value of that $82,690 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 67 of 473 in the state.
- The West Virginia median of $82,690 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $61,950 to $173,900. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The West Virginia take-home of $64,104, on $82,690 for work ranking 67 of 473 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 67 of 473 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $71,408 — the adjusted value of that $82,690 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 67 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $100,220, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $61,950, the highest tenth $173,900, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in West Virginia sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $71,408 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $64,104.
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 46 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 West Virginia is $100,220. 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 ($61,950) and the ninetieth ($173,900) 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.
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 $71,408 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 $64,104 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.
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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.