Surveying and Mapping Technicians in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,792
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$8,738
18.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$44,325
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
$48,530
Kept after tax
$39,792
Worth in national money
$44,325
State rank
41
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. West Virginia pays surveying and mapping technicians a middle wage of $48,530, 41 of 50 states and about 10.53% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Surveying and mapping technicians ranks 253 among 473 occupations West Virginia publishes pay for.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $48,530 the take-home is $39,792; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $44,325 would nationally. The average comes to $50,260, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia's $48,530 median for surveying and mapping technicians places it 41 of 50 states, about 10.53% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Position 253 of 473 in West Virginia places surveying and mapping technicians 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.
- Post-tax income for surveying and mapping technicians in West Virginia, on $48,530, is $39,792 — equivalent to $44,325 once regional price parity is applied. ⚠️ The adjustment uses a statewide index that describes no particular address; within-state price variation, concentrated in housing, routinely exceeds the difference between two states. At $50,260 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Surveying and Mapping Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,530 |
| Top tenth earn over | $73,080 |
| This salary | $48,530 |
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 | $39,792 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,174 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,955 |
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 | $46,810 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,364 |
| 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 $48,530. The published range is $29,130 up to $73,080, 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 $39,792, worked from $48,530. 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 253 of 473.
- One number stands for prices across all of West Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $44,325, the adjusted value of that $48,530 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 253 of 473 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for surveying and mapping technicians in West Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $29,130 to $73,080. 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 $39,792, on $48,530 for work ranking 253 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 253 of 473 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $44,325 — the adjusted value of that $48,530 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 253 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 $50,260 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 $29,130 and the top tenth $73,080 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. West Virginia is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $44,325 in national terms.
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; West Virginia then takes its own share, leaving $39,792.
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 $50,260. 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 ($29,130) and the ninetieth ($73,080) 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 $44,325 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 $39,792 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.