Occupational Therapists in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,649
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$26,061
25.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$74,094
Virginia costs more than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in 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
$100,710
Kept after tax
$74,649
Worth in national money
$74,094
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Virginia is 20 of 51 states for occupational therapists, with a middle wage of $100,710. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Virginia this is well-paid work. Of 489 occupations with published figures in the state, occupational therapists ranks 81 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $100,710, take-home of $74,649 is worth roughly $74,094 in national money. The average comes to $102,130, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Virginia ranks 20 of 51 for occupational therapists at $100,710. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Ranked against every occupation Virginia publishes a median for, occupational therapists sits 81 of 489 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for occupational therapists, whose median is $100,710, the adjusted figure of $74,094 differs little from $74,649 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $102,130 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: Occupational Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $70,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $100,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $134,570 |
| This salary | $100,710 |
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 Virginia | $74,649 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,679 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,902 |
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 | $93,560 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,914 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Virginia earn less than $100,710. The published range is $70,200 up to $134,570, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $74,649 take-home in Virginia comes from $100,710. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 81 of 489.
- Two cautions on $74,094, the adjusted value of that $100,710 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of 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 81 of 489 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for occupational therapists in Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $70,200 to $134,570. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $74,649, from $100,710, assumes a single Virginia filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 81 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 51 for it.
- This $74,094 adjusted figure, worked from $100,710, 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 81 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 81 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $70,200 at the tenth percentile, $134,570 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $74,094 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $74,649 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($70,200 to $134,570) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Virginia rather than a national figure.
How does the state price level affect real compensation?
Virginia's regional price parity sits above the national average, so nominal wages overstate purchasing power. Deflating take-home by the state price level gives $74,094 in national-average terms. ⚠️ RPPs are an all-items index; housing parities vary far more widely than the headline figure.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $74,649 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and 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.