Travel Agents in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,705
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$8,555
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,432
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
$45,260
Kept after tax
$36,705
Worth in national money
$36,432
State rank
41
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Virginia is among the lower-paying states for travel agents. The middle earner takes $45,260, ranking 41 of 49 states — about 9.77% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Virginia, this one sits low: 373 of 489 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $45,260 the take-home is $36,705, which is worth about $36,432 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $49,300, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Virginia ranks 41 of 49 for travel agents, with a median of $45,260 — about 9.77% 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.
- Travel agents occupies position 373 of 489 in 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.
- Virginia's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for travel agents on its $45,260 median: $36,705 retained after tax becomes $36,432 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $49,300 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Travel Agents
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $30,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,260 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,910 |
| This salary | $45,260 |
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 | $36,705 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,546 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,235 |
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 | $42,968 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,913 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $45,260 as a midpoint for Virginia, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $30,140 and the ninetieth is $75,910 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $36,705 take-home in Virginia comes from $45,260. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 373 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $36,432, the adjusted value of that $45,260 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 373 of 489 in the state.
- The Virginia median of $45,260 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $30,140 to $75,910. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $36,705, from $45,260, assumes a single Virginia filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 373 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 41 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $36,432 — the adjusted value of that $45,260 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 373 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $49,300, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $30,140, the highest tenth $75,910, 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 $36,432 — 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 $36,705.
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 49 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 $49,300. 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 ($30,140) and the ninetieth ($75,910) 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.
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 $36,432 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 $36,705 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.