Transportation Security Screeners in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$54,752
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$15,158
21.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,345
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
$69,910
Kept after tax
$54,752
Worth in national money
$54,345
State rank
12
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 $69,910, which ranks 12 of 45 states with published figures. That is about 4.7% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 176 among 489 occupations Virginia publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $69,910 the take-home is $54,752, which is worth about $54,345 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $65,010, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Virginia ranks 12 of 45 states publishing a median for transportation security screeners, at $69,910 — about 4.7% 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.
- Position 176 of 489 in Virginia places transportation security screeners in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Virginia's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for transportation security screeners on its $69,910 median: $54,752 retained after tax becomes $54,345 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $65,010 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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Pay band: Transportation Security Screeners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $46,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $69,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,900 |
| This salary | $69,910 |
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 | $54,752 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $58,012 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,353 |
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 | $65,429 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,898 |
| 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 $69,910. The published range is $46,130 up to $76,900, 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 Virginia's $54,752, worked from $69,910. 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 176 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $54,345, the adjusted value of that $69,910 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 176 of 489 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for transportation security screeners in Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $46,130 to $76,900. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Virginia take-home of $54,752, on $69,910 for work ranking 176 of 489 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 176 of 489 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $54,345 — the adjusted value of that $69,910 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 176 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 $65,010, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $46,130 at the bottom tenth to $76,900 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $54,345 — 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 $54,752.
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.
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 $65,010. 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 ($46,130 to $76,900) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Virginia rather than a national figure.
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 $54,345 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 $54,752 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.