Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,560
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$5,920
16.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,041
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
$36,480
Kept after tax
$30,560
Worth in national money
$34,041
State rank
49
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $36,480, ranking 49 of 49 states — about 36.61% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in West Virginia, this one sits low: 378 of 473 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $36,480 the take-home is $30,560; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $34,041 would nationally. The average comes to $41,290, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia ranks 49 of 49 for motorboat mechanics and service technicians, with a median of $36,480 — about 36.61% 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.
- Motorboat mechanics and service technicians occupies position 378 of 473 in West Virginia's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for motorboat mechanics and service technicians in West Virginia, on $36,480, is $30,560 — equivalent to $34,041 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 $41,290 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Motorboat Mechanics and Service Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,850 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $56,160 |
| This salary | $36,480 |
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 | $30,560 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,492 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,634 |
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 | $35,320 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,976 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $36,480 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $28,850 and the ninetieth is $56,160 — 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 $30,560, worked from $36,480. 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 378 of 473.
- Two cautions on $34,041, the adjusted value of that $36,480 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of West 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 378 of 473 locally.
- The West Virginia median of $36,480 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $28,850 to $56,160. 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 $30,560, on $36,480 for work ranking 378 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 378 of 473 in the state.
- This $34,041 adjusted figure, worked from $36,480, 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 378 of 473 in the state. The occupation ranks 378 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 $41,290, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $28,850, the highest tenth $56,160, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $34,041.
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, $30,560 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $41,290. 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 ($28,850) and the ninetieth ($56,160) 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 $34,041 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 $30,560 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.