Respiratory Therapists in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$54,883
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$13,787
20.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$61,136
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
$68,670
Kept after tax
$54,883
Worth in national money
$61,136
State rank
48
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia is among the lower-paying states for respiratory therapists. The middle earner takes $68,670, ranking 48 of 51 states — about 16.54% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Against other work in West Virginia, this sits in the middle: 124 of 473 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $68,670 the take-home is $54,883; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $61,136 would nationally. The average comes to $71,970, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia ranks 48 of 51 for respiratory therapists, with a median of $68,670 — about 16.54% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Respiratory therapists ranks 124 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.
- Post-tax income for respiratory therapists in West Virginia, on $68,670, is $54,883 — equivalent to $61,136 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $71,970 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Respiratory Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $52,940 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $68,670 |
| Top tenth earn over | $94,280 |
| This salary | $68,670 |
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 | $54,883 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $57,139 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,336 |
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 | $65,592 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,227 |
| 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 respiratory therapists in West Virginia earn under $68,670 and half over. The published range runs $52,940 at the tenth percentile to $94,280 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In West Virginia the take-home figure of $54,883, from $68,670, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 124 of 473 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of West Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $61,136, the adjusted value of that $68,670 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 124 of 473 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for respiratory therapists in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $52,940 to $94,280; 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.
- Take-home for West Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $54,883 from $68,670. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 124 of 473 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $61,136 — the adjusted value of that $68,670 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 124 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 $71,970, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $52,940 at the tenth percentile, $94,280 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 $61,136.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and West Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $54,883 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $71,970. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($52,940 to $94,280) 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 $61,136 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 $54,883 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.