Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,573
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$15,707
21.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$65,246
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
$74,280
Kept after tax
$58,573
Worth in national money
$65,246
State rank
44
of 50 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 $74,280. That is 44 of 50 states, and about 7.54% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in West Virginia. It ranks 101 out of 473 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $74,280 you keep $58,573, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $65,246 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $80,130, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For psychology teachers, postsecondary, West Virginia sits in the lower band at $74,280, ranking 44 of 50 and trailing the national median by about 7.54%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within West Virginia, psychology teachers, postsecondary ranks 101 of 473 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- After federal, FICA and West Virginia income tax, retained pay for psychology teachers, postsecondary on $74,280 is $58,573. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $65,246 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $80,130 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Psychology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,620 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $74,280 |
| Top tenth earn over | $128,730 |
| This salary | $74,280 |
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 | $58,573 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $61,086 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,385 |
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 | $70,708 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,294 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $74,280 as a midpoint for West Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $29,620 and the ninetieth is $128,730 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $58,573 take-home in West Virginia comes from $74,280. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 101 of 473.
- Two cautions on $65,246, the adjusted value of that $74,280 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of West Virginia. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 101 of 473 locally.
- The West Virginia median of $74,280 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $29,620 to $128,730. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $58,573, from $74,280, assumes a single West Virginia filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 101 of 473 locally, and the state ranks 44 of 50 for it.
- This $65,246 adjusted figure, worked from $74,280, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 101 of 473 in the state. The occupation ranks 101 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $80,130, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $29,620 and the top tenth $128,730 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. West Virginia is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $65,246 in national terms.
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 $58,573.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $80,130. 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 ($29,620) and the ninetieth ($128,730) 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 $65,246 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 $58,573 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.