Occupational Health and Safety Technicians in West Virginia

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May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$63,302

after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax

Tax takes

$18,168

22.3% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$70,514

West Virginia costs less than average

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

$81,470

Kept after tax

$63,302

Worth in national money

$70,514

State rank

3

of 48 states

What this pays, and what it is worth

  • This is a good state for the work. West Virginia pays this job a middle wage of $81,470, ranking 3 of 48 states and sitting about 32.34% above the national middle.
  • Locally, this pays well. Among 473 occupations West Virginia reports, this job comes in at 72 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
  • Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $81,470 you keep $63,302, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $70,514 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $79,150, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
  • West Virginia's median for occupational health and safety technicians is $81,470, about 32.34% above the national figure and 3 of 48 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
  • Occupational health and safety technicians ranks 72 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.
  • After federal, FICA and West Virginia income tax, retained pay for occupational health and safety technicians on $81,470 is $63,302. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $70,514 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $79,150 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.

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Pay band: Occupational Health and Safety Technicians

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$60,040
Half earn under$81,470
Top tenth earn over$91,190
This salary$81,470

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

Compare with
+$2,842take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in West Virginia$63,302
Take-home in Texas$66,144
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity−$2,447

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

Moving to
$0$84,850
$84,850in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$77,430
Raise you would need+$3,380
Prices in Texas97 vs 90

State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.

Sources and assumptions
  • Treat $81,470 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $60,040 and the ninetieth is $91,190 — 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 $63,302, worked from $81,470. 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 72 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 $70,514, the adjusted value of that $81,470 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 72 of 473 in the state.
  • The West Virginia median of $81,470 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $60,040 to $91,190. 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 $63,302, on $81,470 for work ranking 72 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 72 of 473 in the state.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $70,514 — the adjusted value of that $81,470 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 72 of 473 locally.

Questions people ask

How much does pay for this job actually vary?

The range here is narrow. From $60,040 at the bottom tenth to $91,190 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.

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 $70,514 in national terms.

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 $63,302.

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.

What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?

The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($60,040 to $91,190) 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 $70,514 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 $63,302 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.