Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$31,293
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$6,137
16.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,858
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
$37,430
Kept after tax
$31,293
Worth in national money
$34,858
State rank
28
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. West Virginia pays this job around $37,430 at the midpoint, 28 of 46 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 473 occupations West Virginia publishes, this job lands at 366. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $37,430 you keep $31,293, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $34,858 would elsewhere. The average is lower, $36,810, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For switchboard operators, including answering service the West Virginia median is $37,430, ranking 28 of 46 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 West Virginia, this work ranks 366 of 473 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.
- After federal, FICA and West Virginia income tax, retained pay for switchboard operators, including answering service on $37,430 is $31,293. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $34,858 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 $36,810 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,630 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $37,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $46,080 |
| This salary | $37,430 |
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 | $31,293 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $32,255 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,666 |
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 | $36,233 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,014 |
| 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 $37,430. The published range is $26,630 up to $46,080, 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 $31,293, worked from $37,430. 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 366 of 473.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,858 uses one figure for the whole of West Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 473 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 366.
- Reported values are medians; for switchboard operators, including answering service in West Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $26,630 to $46,080. 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 $31,293, on $37,430 for work ranking 366 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 366 of 473 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,858, worked from $37,430, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular West Virginia address, on work sitting at 366 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $26,630 and the top tenth $46,080, so most people doing this work in West Virginia sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $34,858.
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, $31,293 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($26,630 to $46,080) 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 $34,858 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 $31,293 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.