Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$30,066
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$5,774
16.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,491
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
$35,840
Kept after tax
$30,066
Worth in national money
$33,491
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. West Virginia pays this job a middle wage of $35,840, 48 of 51 states and about 27.87% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within West Virginia this is lower-paid work. Of 473 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 389. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $35,840 you keep $30,066, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $33,491 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $36,820, because the best-paid pull it up.
- West Virginia's $35,840 median for refuse and recyclable material collectors places it 48 of 51 states, about 27.87% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation West Virginia reports, refuse and recyclable material collectors ranks 389 of 473, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- After federal, FICA and West Virginia income tax, retained pay for refuse and recyclable material collectors on $35,840 is $30,066. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $33,491 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 $36,820 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,960 |
| This salary | $35,840 |
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 | $30,066 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,977 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,613 |
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 | $34,705 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,951 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in West Virginia earn less than $35,840. The published range is $26,520 up to $47,960, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $30,066 take-home in West Virginia comes from $35,840. 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 389 of 473.
- Two cautions on $33,491, the adjusted value of that $35,840 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 389 of 473 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for refuse and recyclable material collectors in West Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $26,520 to $47,960. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $30,066, from $35,840, 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 389 of 473 locally, and the state ranks 48 of 51 for it.
- This $33,491 adjusted figure, worked from $35,840, 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 389 of 473 in the state. The occupation ranks 389 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $26,520 at the tenth percentile, $47,960 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $33,491.
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 $30,066.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($26,520 to $47,960) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to West Virginia rather than a national figure.
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 $33,491 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 $30,066 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.