Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,210
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$10,750
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,474
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
$56,960
Kept after tax
$46,210
Worth in national money
$51,474
State rank
47
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in West Virginia. The middle earner gets $56,960. That is 47 of 51 states, and about 25.26% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in West Virginia, this sits in the middle: 186 of 473 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $56,960 the take-home is $46,210; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $51,474 would nationally. The average lands at $55,900, below the middle of the range.
- For police and sheriff's patrol officers, West Virginia sits in the lower band at $56,960, ranking 47 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 25.26%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Police and sheriff's patrol officers ranks 186 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.
- Post-tax income for police and sheriff's patrol officers in West Virginia, on $56,960, is $46,210 — equivalent to $51,474 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 $55,900 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,950 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,960 |
| Top tenth earn over | $69,980 |
| This salary | $56,960 |
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 | $46,210 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,947 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,133 |
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 | $54,797 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,580 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $56,960 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $41,950 and the ninetieth is $69,980 — 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 West Virginia's $46,210, worked from $56,960. 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 186 of 473.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $51,474 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 186.
- The West Virginia median of $56,960 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $41,950 to $69,980. 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 West Virginia take-home of $46,210, on $56,960 for work ranking 186 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 186 of 473 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $51,474, worked from $56,960, 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 186 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $41,950 and the top tenth $69,980, so most people doing this work in West Virginia sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $51,474.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; West Virginia then takes its own share, leaving $46,210.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($41,950 to $69,980) 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 $51,474 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 $46,210 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.