Paramedics in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,059
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$12,421
20.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,701
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
$60,480
Kept after tax
$48,059
Worth in national money
$47,701
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Virginia sits in the middle of the pack for paramedics. The median is $60,480, ranking 24 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 489 occupations Virginia reports figures for, this is number 241.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $60,480 the take-home is $48,059, which is worth about $47,701 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $60,150, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Virginia occupies the middle band for paramedics: a median of $60,480, ranking 24 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Virginia's occupational distribution, paramedics sits at 241 of 489 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Virginia's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for paramedics on its $60,480 median: $48,059 retained after tax becomes $47,701 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $60,150 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Paramedics
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,480 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,280 |
| This salary | $60,480 |
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 | $48,059 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $50,776 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,550 |
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 | $57,099 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,503 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $60,480 as a midpoint for Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $42,520 and the ninetieth is $77,280 — 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 Virginia's $48,059, worked from $60,480. 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 241 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $47,701 uses one figure for the whole of Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 241.
- The Virginia median of $60,480 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $42,520 to $77,280. 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 Virginia take-home of $48,059, on $60,480 for work ranking 241 of 489 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 241 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $47,701, worked from $60,480, 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 Virginia address, on work sitting at 241 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $42,520 at the bottom tenth to $77,280 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $47,701 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 $48,059 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 ($42,520 to $77,280) 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 $47,701 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 $48,059 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.