Substitute Teachers, Short-Term in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,165
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$8,855
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,741
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
$49,020
Kept after tax
$40,165
Worth in national money
$44,741
State rank
8
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia is one of the better-paying states for substitute teachers, short-term. The middle earner takes $49,020, which ranks 8 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 17.64% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Substitute teachers, short-term ranks 248 among 473 occupations West Virginia publishes pay for.
- Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $49,020 you keep $40,165, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $44,741 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $54,010, because the best-paid pull it up.
- West Virginia ranks 8 of 50 states publishing a median for substitute teachers, short-term, at $49,020 — about 17.64% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Position 248 of 473 in West Virginia places substitute teachers, short-term 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.
- After federal, FICA and West Virginia income tax, retained pay for substitute teachers, short-term on $49,020 is $40,165. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $44,741 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 $54,010 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Substitute Teachers, Short-Term
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,440 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,020 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,290 |
| This salary | $49,020 |
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 West Virginia | $40,165 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,568 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,965 |
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 | $47,274 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,376 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in West Virginia earn less than $49,020. The published range is $41,440 up to $75,290, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind West Virginia's $40,165, worked from $49,020. 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 248 of 473.
- Two cautions on $44,741, the adjusted value of that $49,020 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 248 of 473 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for substitute teachers, short-term in West Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $41,440 to $75,290. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The West Virginia take-home of $40,165, on $49,020 for work ranking 248 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 248 of 473 in the state.
- This $44,741 adjusted figure, worked from $49,020, 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 248 of 473 in the state. The occupation ranks 248 of 473 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 $54,010, 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?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $41,440 at the tenth percentile, $75,290 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $44,741.
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, $40,165 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 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 West Virginia is $54,010. 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 ($41,440 to $75,290) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to West Virginia rather than a national figure.
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 $44,741 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 $40,165 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.
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.