Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$60,638
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$16,782
21.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$67,547
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
$77,420
Kept after tax
$60,638
Worth in national money
$67,547
State rank
41
of 45 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 $77,420. That is 41 of 45 states, and about 21.06% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 473 occupations West Virginia reports, this job comes in at 86 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $77,420 you keep $60,638 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $67,547 at national prices. Averages run higher here, $82,780, since top earners drag the number up.
- For political science teachers, postsecondary, West Virginia sits in the lower band at $77,420, ranking 41 of 45 and trailing the national median by about 21.06%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Political science teachers, postsecondary ranks 86 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.
- Retained pay in West Virginia is $60,638 after the full tax stack, from $77,420. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $67,547 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $82,780 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Political Science Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $43,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $77,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $125,170 |
| This salary | $77,420 |
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 | $60,638 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $63,295 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,412 |
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 | $73,644 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,332 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $77,420 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $43,370 and the ninetieth is $125,170 — 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 $60,638, worked from $77,420. 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 86 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 $67,547, the adjusted value of that $77,420 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 86 of 473 in the state.
- The West Virginia median of $77,420 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $43,370 to $125,170. 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 $60,638, on $77,420 for work ranking 86 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 86 of 473 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $67,547 — the adjusted value of that $77,420 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 86 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $82,780, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $43,370 at the bottom tenth to $125,170 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in West Virginia sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $67,547 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $60,638 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $82,780. 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 ($43,370) and the ninetieth ($125,170) 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 $67,547 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 $60,638 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.
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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.