Physics Teachers, Postsecondary in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$77,091
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$27,399
26.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$76,518
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
$104,490
Kept after tax
$77,091
Worth in national money
$76,518
State rank
10
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Virginia is one of the better-paying states for physics teachers, postsecondary. The middle earner takes $104,490, which ranks 10 of 47 states with published figures. That is about 4.17% above the national middle.
- Within Virginia this is well-paid work. Of 489 occupations with published figures in the state, physics teachers, postsecondary ranks 67 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $104,490, take-home of $77,091 is worth roughly $76,518 in national money. The average comes to $105,830, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Virginia ranks 10 of 47 states publishing a median for physics teachers, postsecondary, at $104,490 — about 4.17% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Ranked against every occupation Virginia publishes a median for, physics teachers, postsecondary sits 67 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 physics teachers, postsecondary, whose median is $104,490, the adjusted figure of $76,518 differs little from $77,091 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $105,830 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Physics Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,640 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $104,490 |
| Top tenth earn over | $171,100 |
| This salary | $104,490 |
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 | $77,091 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $82,339 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$8,214 |
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 | $97,031 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$11,347 |
| 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 $104,490. The published range is $52,640 up to $171,100, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Virginia's $77,091, worked from $104,490. 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 67 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $76,518 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 67.
- Reported values are medians; for physics teachers, postsecondary in Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $52,640 to $171,100. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Virginia take-home of $77,091, on $104,490 for work ranking 67 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 67 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $76,518, worked from $104,490, 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 67 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $52,640 and the top tenth $171,100 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Virginia costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $76,518 rather than its face figure.
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 Virginia's own levy, $77,091 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($52,640) and the ninetieth ($171,100) 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.
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 $76,518 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 $77,091 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.
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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.