Sewing Machine Operators in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,640
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$6,150
17.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,420
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
$35,790
Kept after tax
$29,640
Worth in national money
$29,420
State rank
32
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Virginia is 32 of 50 states for sewing machine operators, with a middle wage of $35,790. 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, sewing machine operators ranks 456. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $35,790 the take-home is $29,640, which is worth about $29,420 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $36,550, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Virginia ranks 32 of 50 for sewing machine operators at $35,790. 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, sewing machine operators ranks 456 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.
- Virginia's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for sewing machine operators on its $35,790 median: $29,640 retained after tax becomes $29,420 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $36,550 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Sewing Machine Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,790 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,760 |
| This salary | $35,790 |
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 | $29,640 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,937 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,417 |
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 | $34,175 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,923 |
| 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 $35,790. The published range is $27,470 up to $46,760, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $29,640 take-home in Virginia comes from $35,790. 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 456 of 489.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $29,420 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 456.
- Reported values are medians; for sewing machine operators in Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $27,470 to $46,760. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $29,640, from $35,790, assumes a single 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 456 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 32 of 50 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $29,420, worked from $35,790, 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 456 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $27,470 at the tenth percentile, $46,760 at the ninetieth.
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 $29,420 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 $29,640.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($27,470 to $46,760) 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 $29,420 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 $29,640 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.