Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,869
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$8,271
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,602
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
$44,140
Kept after tax
$35,869
Worth in national money
$35,602
State rank
20
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Virginia is 20 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $44,140. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Virginia this is lower-paid work. Of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 390. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $44,140, take-home of $35,869 is worth roughly $35,602 in national money. The average comes to $49,660, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Virginia ranks 20 of 50 for reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks at $44,140. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Virginia reports, reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks ranks 390 of 489, 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.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks, whose median is $44,140, the adjusted figure of $35,602 differs little from $35,869 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $49,660 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,040 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,340 |
| This salary | $44,140 |
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 | $35,869 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,646 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,139 |
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 | $41,928 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,796 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Virginia earn less than $44,140. The published range is $38,040 up to $77,340, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Virginia's $35,869, worked from $44,140. 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 390 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,602 uses one figure for the whole of Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 390.
- Reported values are medians; for reservation and transportation ticket agents and travel clerks in Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,040 to $77,340. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Virginia take-home of $35,869, on $44,140 for work ranking 390 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 390 of 489 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,602, worked from $44,140, 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 Virginia address, on work sitting at 390 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 $49,660, 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 $38,040 at the bottom tenth to $77,340 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $35,602 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, $35,869 remains.
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 Virginia is $49,660. 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 ($38,040) and the ninetieth ($77,340) 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 $35,602 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 $35,869 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.
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.