Protective Service Workers, All Other in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,222
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$6,008
17.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,005
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
$35,230
Kept after tax
$29,222
Worth in national money
$29,005
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Virginia is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $35,230, ranking 48 of 51 states — about 17.18% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Virginia, this one sits low: 460 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $35,230, tax leaves $29,222, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $29,005 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $47,230, since top earners drag the number up.
- Virginia ranks 48 of 51 for protective service workers, all other, with a median of $35,230 — about 17.18% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Protective service workers, all other occupies position 460 of 489 in Virginia's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Because Virginia sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for protective service workers, all other — median $35,230 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $29,222 retained, $29,005 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $47,230 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Protective Service Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,230 |
| Top tenth earn over | $79,250 |
| This salary | $35,230 |
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 Virginia | $29,222 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,487 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,369 |
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 | $33,656 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,865 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $35,230 as a midpoint for Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $27,120 and the ninetieth is $79,250 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Virginia the take-home figure of $29,222, from $35,230, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 460 of 489 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $29,005, the adjusted value of that $35,230 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 460 of 489 in the state.
- The Virginia median of $35,230 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $27,120 to $79,250. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $29,222 from $35,230. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 460 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $29,005 — the adjusted value of that $35,230 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 460 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $47,230 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $27,120 and the top tenth $79,250 — 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 $29,005 rather than its face figure.
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; Virginia then takes its own share, leaving $29,222.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 Virginia is $47,230. 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 ($27,120) and the ninetieth ($79,250) 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 $29,005 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 $29,222 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.