Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,358
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$8,602
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,842
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
$47,960
Kept after tax
$39,358
Worth in national money
$43,842
State rank
34
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in West Virginia. The middle earner gets $47,960. That is 34 of 48 states, and about 12.82% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 260 among 473 occupations West Virginia publishes pay for.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $47,960 you keep $39,358 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $43,842 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $50,310, since top earners drag the number up.
- For morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers, West Virginia sits in the lower band at $47,960, ranking 34 of 48 and trailing the national median by about 12.82%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Position 260 of 473 in West Virginia places morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers 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.
- Retained pay in West Virginia is $39,358 after the full tax stack, from $47,960. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $43,842 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $50,310 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Morticians, Undertakers, and Funeral Arrangers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,340 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,970 |
| This salary | $47,960 |
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 | $39,358 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,716 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,942 |
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 | $46,270 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,349 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
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 morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers in West Virginia earn under $47,960 and half over. The published range runs $31,340 at the tenth percentile to $59,970 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In West Virginia the take-home figure of $39,358, from $47,960, 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 260 of 473 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $43,842 uses one figure for the whole of West Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 473 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 260.
- Figures are distribution medians for morticians, undertakers, and funeral arrangers in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,340 to $59,970; 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.
- Take-home for West Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $39,358 from $47,960. 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 260 of 473 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,842, worked from $47,960, 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 West Virginia address, on work sitting at 260 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $50,310, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $31,340 and the top tenth $59,970, so most people doing this work in West Virginia sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $43,842.
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, $39,358 remains.
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 West Virginia is $50,310. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,340 to $59,970) 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 $43,842 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 $39,358 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.