Waiters and Waitresses in West Virginia
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$29,711
after federal, FICA and West Virginia tax
Tax takes
$5,669
16.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,096
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
$35,380
Kept after tax
$29,711
Worth in national money
$33,096
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. West Virginia is 24 of 51 states for waiters and waitresses, with a middle wage of $35,380. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within West Virginia this is lower-paid work. Of 473 occupations the state publishes figures for, waiters and waitresses ranks 395. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- West Virginia is cheaper than average, and that shows up here. From $35,380 the take-home is $29,711; adjusted for what things actually cost, it goes as far as $33,096 would nationally. The average comes to $38,350, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- West Virginia ranks 24 of 51 for waiters and waitresses at $35,380. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation West Virginia reports, waiters and waitresses ranks 395 of 473, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Post-tax income for waiters and waitresses in West Virginia, on $35,380, is $29,711 — equivalent to $33,096 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 $38,350 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Waiters and Waitresses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $20,230 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $35,380 |
| Top tenth earn over | $60,560 |
| This salary | $35,380 |
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 | $29,711 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $30,608 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | −$1,598 |
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 | $34,263 |
|---|---|
| Raise you would need | +$1,932 |
| 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 waiters and waitresses in West Virginia earn under $35,380 and half over. The published range runs $20,230 at the tenth percentile to $60,560 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 $29,711, worked from $35,380. 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 395 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 $33,096, the adjusted value of that $35,380 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 395 of 473 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for waiters and waitresses in West Virginia, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $20,230 to $60,560; 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 $29,711, on $35,380 for work ranking 395 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 395 of 473 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for West Virginia, so $33,096 — the adjusted value of that $35,380 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 395 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 $38,350, 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 $20,230, the highest tenth $60,560, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $33,096.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and West Virginia's own levy, $29,711 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $38,350. 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 ($20,230) and the ninetieth ($60,560) 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 $33,096 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 $29,711 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.