School Psychologists in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$64,933
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$20,737
24.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,451
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
$85,670
Kept after tax
$64,933
Worth in national money
$64,451
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Virginia is 20 of 51 states for school psychologists, with a middle wage of $85,670. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Virginia. It ranks 112 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $85,670, take-home of $64,933 is worth roughly $64,451 in national money. The average comes to $93,390, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Virginia ranks 20 of 51 for school psychologists at $85,670. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Virginia, school psychologists ranks 112 of 489 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for school psychologists, whose median is $85,670, the adjusted figure of $64,451 differs little from $64,933 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $93,390 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: School Psychologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $85,670 |
| Top tenth earn over | $132,800 |
| This salary | $85,670 |
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 Virginia | $64,933 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $69,099 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$6,657 |
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 | $79,749 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$9,195 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $85,670 as a midpoint for Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $63,130 and the ninetieth is $132,800 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Virginia the take-home figure of $64,933, from $85,670, 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 112 of 489 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $64,451, the adjusted value of that $85,670 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 112 of 489 in the state.
- The Virginia median of $85,670 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $63,130 to $132,800. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $64,933 from $85,670. 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 112 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $64,451 — the adjusted value of that $85,670 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 112 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $93,390 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $63,130, the highest tenth $132,800, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Virginia run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $64,451 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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, $64,933 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 $93,390. 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 ($63,130) and the ninetieth ($132,800) 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 $64,451 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 $64,933 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.