Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$40,159
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$9,731
19.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,860
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
$49,890
Kept after tax
$40,159
Worth in national money
$39,860
State rank
11
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Virginia is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $49,890, which ranks 11 of 45 states with published figures. That is about 16.27% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Virginia, this sits in the middle: 314 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Virginia costs about what the country costs, so from $49,890, take-home of $40,159 is worth roughly $39,860 in national money. The average comes to $50,720, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Virginia ranks 11 of 45 states publishing a median for teaching assistants, postsecondary, at $49,890 — about 16.27% 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.
- Teaching assistants, postsecondary ranks 314 of 489 occupations in Virginia by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Price parity in Virginia is near the national base, so for teaching assistants, postsecondary, whose median is $49,890, the adjusted figure of $39,860 differs little from $40,159 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $50,720 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Teaching Assistants, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,670 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $49,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,310 |
| This salary | $49,890 |
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 | $40,159 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $42,267 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,635 |
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 | $47,266 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,397 |
| 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 teaching assistants, postsecondary in Virginia earn under $49,890 and half over. The published range runs $31,670 at the tenth percentile to $80,310 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Virginia the take-home figure of $40,159, from $49,890, 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 314 of 489 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $39,860 uses one figure for the whole of Virginia. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 489 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 314.
- Figures are distribution medians for teaching assistants, postsecondary in Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,670 to $80,310; 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 $40,159 from $49,890. 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 314 of 489 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $39,860, worked from $49,890, 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 Virginia address, on work sitting at 314 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $31,670, the highest tenth $80,310, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
Not on its own. Prices in Virginia run above the national level, so the same dollars buy less here. Adjusted for that, this pay is worth $39,860 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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 Virginia's own levy, $40,159 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 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($31,670) and the ninetieth ($80,310) 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.
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 $39,860 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 $40,159 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.