Tour and Travel Guides in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$24,454
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$4,116
14.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,240
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
$28,570
Kept after tax
$24,454
Worth in national money
$27,240
State rank
48
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- West Virginia is among the lower-paying states for tour and travel guides. The middle earner takes $28,570, ranking 48 of 50 states — about 25.05% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in West Virginia, this one sits low: 451 of 473 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $28,570 the take-home is $24,454; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $27,240 would nationally. The average comes to $34,140, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia ranks 48 of 50 for tour and travel guides, with a median of $28,570 — about 25.05% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Tour and travel guides occupies position 451 of 473 in West Virginia's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Post-tax income for tour and travel guides in West Virginia, on $28,570, is $24,454 — equivalent to $27,240 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 $34,140 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Tour and Travel Guides
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $21,700 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $28,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,910 |
| This salary | $28,570 |
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 | $24,454 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,136 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,373 |
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 | $27,740 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,661 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 90 |
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 tour and travel guides in West Virginia earn under $28,570 and half over. The published range runs $21,700 at the tenth percentile to $49,910 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind West Virginia's $24,454, worked from $28,570. 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 451 of 473.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $27,240 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 451.
- Figures are distribution medians for tour and travel guides in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $21,700 to $49,910; 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.
- The West Virginia take-home of $24,454, on $28,570 for work ranking 451 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 451 of 473 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $27,240, worked from $28,570, 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 451 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $34,140, 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 $21,700, the highest tenth $49,910, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $27,240 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and West Virginia adds its own income tax on top — which is why $24,454 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 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 $34,140. 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 ($21,700) and the ninetieth ($49,910) 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 $27,240 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 $24,454 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.