Social Science Research Assistants in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,673
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$10,587
19.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,355
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
$53,260
Kept after tax
$42,673
Worth in national money
$42,355
State rank
27
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Virginia is 27 of 45 states for social science research assistants, with a middle wage of $53,260. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Social science research assistants ranks 288 among 489 occupations Virginia publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $53,260, take-home of $42,673 is worth roughly $42,355 in national money. The average comes to $59,810, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Virginia ranks 27 of 45 for social science research assistants at $53,260. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 288 of 489 in Virginia places social science research assistants 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.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for social science research assistants, whose median is $53,260, the adjusted figure of $42,355 differs little from $42,673 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $59,810 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Social Science Research Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $42,550 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $53,260 |
| Top tenth earn over | $83,760 |
| This salary | $53,260 |
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 | $42,673 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,974 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,927 |
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 | $50,395 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,749 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
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 social science research assistants in Virginia earn under $53,260 and half over. The published range runs $42,550 at the tenth percentile to $83,760 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $42,673 take-home in Virginia comes from $53,260. 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 288 of 489.
- Two cautions on $42,355, the adjusted value of that $53,260 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Virginia. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 288 of 489 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for social science research assistants in Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $42,550 to $83,760; 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.
- Retained pay of $42,673, from $53,260, 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 288 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 45 for it.
- This $42,355 adjusted figure, worked from $53,260, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 288 of 489 in the state. The occupation ranks 288 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 $59,810 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?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $42,550 and the top tenth $83,760 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $42,355 — 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, $42,673 remains.
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 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $59,810. 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 ($42,550) and the ninetieth ($83,760) 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 $42,355 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 $42,673 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.