Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,699
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$5,961
16.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,196
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
$36,660
Kept after tax
$30,699
Worth in national money
$34,196
State rank
43
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. West Virginia pays this job a middle wage of $36,660, 43 of 51 states and about 6.93% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within West Virginia this is lower-paid work. Of 473 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 376. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $36,660 you keep $30,699 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $34,196 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $37,110, since top earners drag the number up.
- West Virginia's $36,660 median for merchandise displayers and window trimmers places it 43 of 51 states, about 6.93% 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 West Virginia reports, merchandise displayers and window trimmers ranks 376 of 473, 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.
- Retained pay in West Virginia is $30,699 after the full tax stack, from $36,660. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $34,196 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $37,110 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,410 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,660 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,740 |
| This salary | $36,660 |
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 | $30,699 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,636 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,640 |
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 | $35,493 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,984 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,660 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $29,410 and the ninetieth is $46,740 — 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 $30,699, worked from $36,660. 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 376 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 $34,196, the adjusted value of that $36,660 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 376 of 473 in the state.
- The West Virginia median of $36,660 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $29,410 to $46,740. 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 $30,699, on $36,660 for work ranking 376 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 376 of 473 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $34,196 — the adjusted value of that $36,660 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 376 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $29,410 at the tenth percentile, $46,740 at the ninetieth.
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 $34,196 in national terms.
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 West Virginia's own levy, $30,699 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($29,410 to $46,740) 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 $34,196 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 $30,699 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.