Speech-Language Pathologists in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,973
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$17,997
22.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$70,148
West Virginia costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in West 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
$80,970
Kept after tax
$62,973
Worth in national money
$70,148
State rank
44
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia is among the lower-paying states for speech-language pathologists. The middle earner takes $80,970, ranking 44 of 51 states — about 17.27% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 473 occupations West Virginia reports, speech-language pathologists comes in at 74 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $80,970 you keep $62,973, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $70,148 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $88,180, because the best-paid pull it up.
- West Virginia ranks 44 of 51 for speech-language pathologists, with a median of $80,970 — about 17.27% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Speech-language pathologists ranks 74 of 473 occupations by median in West 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.
- After federal, FICA and West Virginia income tax, retained pay for speech-language pathologists on $80,970 is $62,973. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $70,148 in national-average terms. ⚠️ That figure is purchasing power, not a wage, and nobody is paid it; it is what the take-home buys. The mean of $88,180 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Speech-Language Pathologists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,970 |
| Top tenth earn over | $125,160 |
| This salary | $80,970 |
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 West Virginia | $62,973 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,792 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$2,443 |
The raise and the real gain point in opposite directions here.
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 | $76,962 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$3,374 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
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 speech-language pathologists in West Virginia earn under $80,970 and half over. The published range runs $62,690 at the tenth percentile to $125,160 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind West Virginia's $62,973, worked from $80,970. 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 74 of 473.
- Two cautions on $70,148, the adjusted value of that $80,970 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of West 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 74 of 473 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for speech-language pathologists in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $62,690 to $125,160; 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.
- The West Virginia take-home of $62,973, on $80,970 for work ranking 74 of 473 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 74 of 473 in the state.
- This $70,148 adjusted figure, worked from $80,970, 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 74 of 473 in the state. The occupation ranks 74 of 473 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 $88,180 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $62,690 at the bottom tenth to $125,160 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in West Virginia sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $70,148 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 West Virginia's own levy, $62,973 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 West Virginia is $88,180. 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 ($62,690) and the ninetieth ($125,160) 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.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
West Virginia's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $70,148 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $62,973 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and West 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.