Tool and Die Makers in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,010
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$8,180
17.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$42,341
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
$46,190
Kept after tax
$38,010
Worth in national money
$42,341
State rank
45
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. West Virginia pays tool and die makers a middle wage of $46,190, 45 of 45 states and about 27.88% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Against other work in West Virginia, this sits in the middle: 285 of 473 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Here is where West Virginia does better than its wage suggests. From a median of $46,190 you keep $38,010, and because things cost less here than the national average, that behaves like $42,341 would elsewhere. The average is higher, $50,880, because the best-paid pull it up.
- West Virginia's $46,190 median for tool and die makers places it 45 of 45 states, about 27.88% 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.
- Tool and die makers ranks 285 of 473 occupations in West 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.
- After federal, FICA and West Virginia income tax, retained pay for tool and die makers on $46,190 is $38,010. Deflating by the state's price level — below the national average — gives $42,341 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 $50,880 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Tool and Die Makers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,410 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $65,840 |
| This salary | $46,190 |
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 | $38,010 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,294 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,905 |
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 | $44,593 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$2,304 |
| 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 $46,190. The published range is $35,410 up to $65,840, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In West Virginia the take-home figure of $38,010, from $46,190, 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 285 of 473 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $42,341 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 285.
- Reported values are medians; for tool and die makers in West Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $35,410 to $65,840. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for West Virginia is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $38,010 from $46,190. 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 285 of 473 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $42,341, worked from $46,190, 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 285 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 $50,880 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $35,410 at the bottom tenth to $65,840 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $42,341 in national terms.
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, $38,010 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $50,880. 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 ($35,410 to $65,840) 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 $42,341 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 $38,010 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.