Painters, Construction and Maintenance in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,518
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$7,712
17.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,679
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
$44,230
Kept after tax
$36,518
Worth in national money
$40,679
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for painters, construction and maintenance is on the low side in West Virginia. The middle earner gets $44,230. That is 45 of 51 states, and about 10.47% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in West Virginia, this sits in the middle: 304 of 473 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $44,230 you keep $36,518, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $40,679 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $44,770, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For painters, construction and maintenance, West Virginia sits in the lower band at $44,230, ranking 45 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 10.47%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Painters, construction and maintenance ranks 304 of 473 occupations in West Virginia by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- After federal, FICA and West Virginia income tax, retained pay for painters, construction and maintenance on $44,230 is $36,518. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $40,679 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 $44,770 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Painters, Construction and Maintenance
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,230 |
| Top tenth earn over | $63,640 |
| This salary | $44,230 |
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 | $36,518 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,719 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,863 |
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 | $42,736 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,254 |
| 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 $44,230. The published range is $29,200 up to $63,640, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $36,518 take-home in West Virginia comes from $44,230. 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 304 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 $40,679, the adjusted value of that $44,230 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 304 of 473 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for painters, construction and maintenance in West Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $29,200 to $63,640. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $36,518, from $44,230, assumes a single West 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 304 of 473 locally, and the state ranks 45 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $40,679 — the adjusted value of that $44,230 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 304 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $29,200, the highest tenth $63,640, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $40,679 in national terms.
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 $36,518 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($29,200) and the ninetieth ($63,640) 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 $40,679 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 $36,518 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.