Recreation Workers in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,886
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$6,234
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,664
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
$36,120
Kept after tax
$29,886
Worth in national money
$29,664
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Virginia sits in the middle of the pack for recreation workers. The median is $36,120, ranking 20 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Virginia, this one sits low: 455 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $36,120 the take-home is $29,886, which is worth about $29,664 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $38,870, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Virginia occupies the middle band for recreation workers: a median of $36,120, ranking 20 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Recreation workers occupies position 455 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.
- Virginia's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for recreation workers on its $36,120 median: $29,886 retained after tax becomes $29,664 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $38,870 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Recreation Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,390 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $36,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $53,800 |
| This salary | $36,120 |
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 | $29,886 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $31,202 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,446 |
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 | $34,482 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,958 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
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 recreation workers in Virginia earn under $36,120 and half over. The published range runs $27,390 at the tenth percentile to $53,800 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $29,886 take-home in Virginia comes from $36,120. 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 455 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $29,664, the adjusted value of that $36,120 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 455 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for recreation workers in Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $27,390 to $53,800; 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.
- Retained pay of $29,886, from $36,120, assumes a single 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 455 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $29,664 — the adjusted value of that $36,120 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 455 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $38,870, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $27,390 at the bottom tenth to $53,800 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $29,664 rather than its face figure.
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 Virginia's own levy, $29,886 remains.
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.
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 $38,870. 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 ($27,390) and the ninetieth ($53,800) 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 $29,664 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 $29,886 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.