Optometrists in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$87,334
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$30,676
26.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$97,285
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
$118,010
Kept after tax
$87,334
Worth in national money
$97,285
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for optometrists is on the low side in West Virginia. The middle earner gets $118,010. That is 45 of 51 states, and about 13.59% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 473 occupations West Virginia reports, optometrists comes in at 20 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $118,010 the take-home is $87,334; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $97,285 would nationally. The average comes to $130,750, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For optometrists, West Virginia sits in the lower band at $118,010, ranking 45 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 13.59%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Optometrists ranks 20 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.
- Post-tax income for optometrists in West Virginia, on $118,010, is $87,334 — equivalent to $97,285 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 $130,750 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: Optometrists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $69,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $118,010 |
| Top tenth earn over | $198,570 |
| This salary | $118,010 |
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 | $87,334 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $91,850 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,764 |
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 | $111,591 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,819 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in West Virginia earn less than $118,010. The published range is $69,830 up to $198,570, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In West Virginia the take-home figure of $87,334, from $118,010, 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 20 of 473 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $97,285, the adjusted value of that $118,010 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 20 of 473 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for optometrists in West Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $69,830 to $198,570. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for West Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $87,334 from $118,010. 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 20 of 473 locally.
- This $97,285 adjusted figure, worked from $118,010, 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 20 of 473 in the state. The occupation ranks 20 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $130,750 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $69,830, the highest tenth $198,570, 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 $97,285.
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, $87,334 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $130,750. 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 ($69,830) and the ninetieth ($198,570) 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 $97,285 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 $87,334 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.
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.