Technical Writers in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$70,056
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$23,544
25.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$69,535
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
$93,600
Kept after tax
$70,056
Worth in national money
$69,535
State rank
13
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Virginia pays technical writers a middle wage of $93,600, ranking 13 of 45 states and sitting about 3.55% above the national middle.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Virginia. It ranks 99 out of 489 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $93,600, tax leaves $70,056, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $69,535 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $97,090, since top earners drag the number up.
- Virginia's median for technical writers is $93,600, about 3.55% above the national figure and 13 of 45 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Within Virginia, technical writers ranks 99 of 489 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Because Virginia sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for technical writers — median $93,600 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $70,056 retained, $69,535 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $97,090 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Technical Writers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $60,930 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $93,600 |
| Top tenth earn over | $139,470 |
| This salary | $93,600 |
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 | $70,056 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $74,678 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$7,313 |
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 | $87,031 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$10,102 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Virginia earn less than $93,600. The published range is $60,930 up to $139,470, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Virginia the take-home figure of $70,056, from $93,600, 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 99 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 $69,535, the adjusted value of that $93,600 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 99 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for technical writers in Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $60,930 to $139,470. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $70,056 from $93,600. 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 99 of 489 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $69,535 — the adjusted value of that $93,600 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 99 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $97,090, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $60,930, the highest tenth $139,470, 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 $69,535 — the wage did not change, only what it covers.
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; Virginia then takes its own share, leaving $70,056.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $97,090. 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 ($60,930) and the ninetieth ($139,470) 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 $69,535 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 $70,056 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.