Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$48,290
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$12,500
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,931
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
$60,790
Kept after tax
$48,290
Worth in national money
$47,931
State rank
21
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 $60,790, ranking 21 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 239 among 489 occupations Virginia publishes pay for.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $60,790, tax leaves $48,290, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $47,931 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $61,210, since top earners drag the number up.
- Virginia occupies the middle band for security and fire alarm systems installers: a median of $60,790, ranking 21 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 239 of 489 in Virginia places security and fire alarm systems installers 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 security and fire alarm systems installers — median $60,790 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $48,290 retained, $47,931 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $61,210 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,840 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $60,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,520 |
| This salary | $60,790 |
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 | $48,290 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,025 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,577 |
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 | $57,386 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,536 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $60,790 as a midpoint for Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $40,840 and the ninetieth is $78,520 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Virginia's $48,290, worked from $60,790. 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 239 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $47,931, the adjusted value of that $60,790 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 239 of 489 in the state.
- The Virginia median of $60,790 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $40,840 to $78,520. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Virginia take-home of $48,290, on $60,790 for work ranking 239 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 239 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $47,931 — the adjusted value of that $60,790 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 239 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $40,840 at the bottom tenth to $78,520 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $47,931 of national purchasing power.
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; Virginia then takes its own share, leaving $48,290.
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 ($40,840 to $78,520) 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 $47,931 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 $48,290 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.