Speech-Language Pathologists in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$71,768
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$24,482
25.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$71,235
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
$96,250
Kept after tax
$71,768
Worth in national money
$71,235
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Virginia is 21 of 51 states for speech-language pathologists, with a middle wage of $96,250. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 489 occupations Virginia reports, speech-language pathologists comes in at 93 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $96,250, take-home of $71,768 is worth roughly $71,235 in national money. The average comes to $99,590, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Virginia ranks 21 of 51 for speech-language pathologists at $96,250. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Speech-language pathologists ranks 93 of 489 occupations by median in Virginia, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for speech-language pathologists, whose median is $96,250, the adjusted figure of $71,235 differs little from $71,768 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $99,590 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: Speech-Language Pathologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $66,890 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $96,250 |
| Top tenth earn over | $132,400 |
| This salary | $96,250 |
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 | $71,768 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $76,542 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,532 |
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 | $89,464 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,405 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $96,250 as a midpoint for Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $66,890 and the ninetieth is $132,400 — 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 $71,768, worked from $96,250. 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 93 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $71,235, the adjusted value of that $96,250 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 93 of 489 in the state.
- The Virginia median of $96,250 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $66,890 to $132,400. 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 $71,768, on $96,250 for work ranking 93 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 93 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $71,235 — the adjusted value of that $96,250 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 93 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 $99,590 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $66,890 at the tenth percentile, $132,400 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 $71,235 — 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 $71,768.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $99,590. 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 ($66,890 to $132,400) 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 $71,235 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 $71,768 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.