Tree Trimmers and Pruners in Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,159
after federal, FICA and Virginia tax
Tax takes
$9,391
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,868
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
$48,550
Kept after tax
$39,159
Worth in national money
$38,868
State rank
27
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Virginia pays tree trimmers and pruners around $48,550 at the midpoint, 27 of 49 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Virginia, this sits in the middle: 331 of 489 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $48,550, tax leaves $39,159, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $38,868 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $49,800, since top earners drag the number up.
- For tree trimmers and pruners the Virginia median is $48,550, ranking 27 of 49 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Tree trimmers and pruners ranks 331 of 489 occupations in 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.
- Because Virginia sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for tree trimmers and pruners — median $48,550 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $39,159 retained, $38,868 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $49,800 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Tree Trimmers and Pruners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,930 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,550 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,350 |
| This salary | $48,550 |
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 | $39,159 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,190 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,520 |
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 | $46,022 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,257 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 101 |
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 tree trimmers and pruners in Virginia earn under $48,550 and half over. The published range runs $38,930 at the tenth percentile to $59,350 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $39,159 take-home in Virginia comes from $48,550. 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 331 of 489.
- One number stands for prices across all of Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $38,868, the adjusted value of that $48,550 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 331 of 489 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for tree trimmers and pruners in Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $38,930 to $59,350; 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.
- Retained pay of $39,159, from $48,550, 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 331 of 489 locally, and the state ranks 27 of 49 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Virginia, so $38,868 — the adjusted value of that $48,550 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 331 of 489 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $38,930 at the tenth percentile, $59,350 at the ninetieth.
Does a bigger number here mean I am better off?
The number and the value are different things. Virginia costs more than the national average, so this take-home stretches like $38,868 rather than its face figure.
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 $39,159.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($38,930 to $59,350) 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 $38,868 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 $39,159 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.