Substitute Teachers, Short-Term in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$32,050
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$6,970
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$31,811
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
$39,020
Kept after tax
$32,050
Worth in national money
$31,811
State rank
19
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Virginia pays substitute teachers, short-term around $39,020 at the midpoint, 19 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 489 occupations Virginia publishes, substitute teachers, short-term lands at 419. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $39,020, take-home of $32,050 is worth roughly $31,811 in national money. The average comes to $40,900, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For substitute teachers, short-term the Virginia median is $39,020, ranking 19 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Virginia, this work ranks 419 of 489 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for substitute teachers, short-term, whose median is $39,020, the adjusted figure of $31,811 differs little from $32,050 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $40,900 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Substitute Teachers, Short-Term
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $53,540 |
| This salary | $39,020 |
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 | $32,050 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $33,533 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,696 |
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 | $37,174 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,261 |
| 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 substitute teachers, short-term in Virginia earn under $39,020 and half over. The published range runs $27,670 at the tenth percentile to $53,540 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Virginia the take-home figure of $32,050, from $39,020, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 419 of 489 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $31,811, the adjusted value of that $39,020 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 419 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for substitute teachers, short-term in Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $27,670 to $53,540; 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.
- Take-home for Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $32,050 from $39,020. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 419 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $31,811 — the adjusted value of that $39,020 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 419 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $40,900, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $27,670 and the top tenth $53,540, so most people doing this work in Virginia sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $31,811 of national purchasing power.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $32,050 of this wage survives to your account.
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.
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 $40,900. 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 ($27,670 to $53,540) 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 $31,811 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 $32,050 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.