Occupational Therapy Assistants in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,806
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$11,564
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,366
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
$60,370
Kept after tax
$48,806
Worth in national money
$54,366
State rank
47
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $60,370, ranking 47 of 50 states — about 16.5% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 168 among 473 occupations West Virginia publishes pay for.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $60,370 the take-home is $48,806; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $54,366 would nationally. The average comes to $63,680, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia ranks 47 of 50 for occupational therapy assistants, with a median of $60,370 — about 16.5% 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.
- Position 168 of 473 in West Virginia places occupational therapy assistants 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.
- Post-tax income for occupational therapy assistants in West Virginia, on $60,370, is $48,806 — equivalent to $54,366 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 $63,680 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Occupational Therapy Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,280 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,940 |
| This salary | $60,370 |
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 | $48,806 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,687 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,205 |
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 | $58,028 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,667 |
| 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 occupational therapy assistants in West Virginia earn under $60,370 and half over. The published range runs $49,280 at the tenth percentile to $76,940 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind West Virginia's $48,806, worked from $60,370. 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 168 of 473.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $54,366 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 168.
- Figures are distribution medians for occupational therapy assistants in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $49,280 to $76,940; 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.
- The West Virginia take-home of $48,806, on $60,370 for work ranking 168 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 168 of 473 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $54,366, worked from $60,370, 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 168 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $63,680, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $49,280 at the tenth percentile, $76,940 at the ninetieth.
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 $54,366.
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 West Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $48,806 of this wage survives to your account.
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 50 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 $63,680. 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 ($49,280 to $76,940) 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 $54,366 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 $48,806 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.