Public Relations Specialists in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,034
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$10,696
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,279
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
$56,730
Kept after tax
$46,034
Worth in national money
$51,279
State rank
51
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for public relations specialists is on the low side in West Virginia. The middle earner gets $56,730. That is 51 of 51 states, and about 24.11% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against other work in West Virginia, this sits in the middle: 188 of 473 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $56,730 you keep $46,034, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $51,279 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $64,450, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For public relations specialists, West Virginia sits in the lower band at $56,730, ranking 51 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 24.11%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Public relations specialists ranks 188 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.
- After federal, FICA and West Virginia income tax, retained pay for public relations specialists on $56,730 is $46,034. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $51,279 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 $64,450 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Public Relations Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,720 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $103,380 |
| This salary | $56,730 |
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 | $46,034 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,763 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,128 |
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 | $54,579 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,574 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of public relations specialists in West Virginia earn under $56,730 and half over. The published range runs $39,720 at the tenth percentile to $103,380 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind West Virginia's $46,034, worked from $56,730. 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 188 of 473.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $51,279 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 188.
- Figures are distribution medians for public relations specialists in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,720 to $103,380; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The West Virginia take-home of $46,034, on $56,730 for work ranking 188 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 188 of 473 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $51,279, worked from $56,730, 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 188 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 $64,450, 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $39,720, the highest tenth $103,380, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $51,279 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $46,034.
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 West Virginia is $64,450. 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 ($39,720) and the ninetieth ($103,380) 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 $51,279 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 $46,034 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.