Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,652
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$8,878
19.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,372
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
$46,530
Kept after tax
$37,652
Worth in national money
$37,372
State rank
34
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Virginia sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $46,530, ranking 34 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 353 among 489 occupations Virginia publishes pay for.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $46,530, tax leaves $37,652, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $37,372 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $46,100.
- Virginia occupies the middle band for refuse and recyclable material collectors: a median of $46,530, ranking 34 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.
- Position 353 of 489 in Virginia places refuse and recyclable material collectors in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Because Virginia sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for refuse and recyclable material collectors — median $46,530 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $37,652 retained, $37,372 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $46,100 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $28,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,530 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,040 |
| This salary | $46,530 |
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 | $37,652 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,567 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,345 |
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 | $44,147 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,045 |
| 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 refuse and recyclable material collectors in Virginia earn under $46,530 and half over. The published range runs $28,120 at the tenth percentile to $61,040 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 Virginia's $37,652, worked from $46,530. 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 353 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $37,372, the adjusted value of that $46,530 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 353 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for refuse and recyclable material collectors in Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $28,120 to $61,040; 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 Virginia take-home of $37,652, on $46,530 for work ranking 353 of 489 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 353 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $37,372 — the adjusted value of that $46,530 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 353 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $28,120 and the top tenth $61,040, so most people doing this work in Virginia sit within a fairly tight band.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
A larger wage in a dearer place is not automatically more. Adjusted for local prices, this pay behaves like $37,372 of national purchasing power.
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, $37,652 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($28,120 to $61,040) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Virginia rather than a national figure.
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 $37,372 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 $37,652 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.