Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,372
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$4,978
15.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$30,490
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
$32,350
Kept after tax
$27,372
Worth in national money
$30,490
State rank
49
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in West Virginia. The middle earner gets $32,350. That is 49 of 51 states, and about 15.2% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 473 occupations West Virginia publishes, this job lands at 420. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cheaper living works in this state's favor. From $32,350 you keep $27,372 after tax, and local prices stretch that to the equivalent of $30,490 at national prices. Here the average runs under the middle, at $32,260.
- For veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers, West Virginia sits in the lower band at $32,350, ranking 49 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 15.2%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within West Virginia, this work ranks 420 of 473 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Retained pay in West Virginia is $27,372 after the full tax stack, from $32,350. Because the state's price level runs below the national average, the price-adjusted equivalent is $30,490 — a real-terms figure describing purchasing power rather than compensation, and not a number that appears on any pay stub. Mean pay of $32,260 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $25,830 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $32,350 |
| Top tenth earn over | $38,040 |
| This salary | $32,350 |
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 | $27,372 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,173 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,498 |
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 | $31,352 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,812 |
| 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 $32,350. The published range is $25,830 up to $38,040, 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 West Virginia's $27,372, worked from $32,350. 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 420 of 473.
- One number stands for prices across all of West Virginia, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $30,490, the adjusted value of that $32,350 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 420 of 473 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for veterinary assistants and laboratory animal caretakers in West Virginia the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $25,830 to $38,040. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The West Virginia take-home of $27,372, on $32,350 for work ranking 420 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 420 of 473 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $30,490 — the adjusted value of that $32,350 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 420 of 473 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $25,830 at the tenth percentile, $38,040 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in West Virginia sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $30,490 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $27,372 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($25,830 to $38,040) 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 $30,490 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 $27,372 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.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.