Average salary in West Virginia: $56,470 a year
The mean annual wage across every job BLS counts in West Virginia, with the median, the pay spread, the job groups and the occupations behind it.
The average salary in West Virginia is $56,470 a year ($27.15 an hour): that is the mean annual wage across 701,610 jobs in the BLS May 2025 survey. The median is $45,300 ($21.78 an hour), so half of those jobs paid less and half paid more. The mean sits above the median because a smaller number of very high wages pulls it up.
How West Virginia compares with the United States
West Virginia's mean salary is $13,300 (19.1%) below the U.S. figure of $69,770; its median is $5,680 (11.1%) below the U.S. figure of $50,980. Among the 50 states and DC, West Virginia ranks 49th by mean salary and 49th by median salary (1 = highest; calculated from the BLS figures).
| Measure | West Virginia | United States |
|---|---|---|
| Mean (average) salary | $56,470 | $69,770 |
| Median salary | $45,300 | $50,980 |
| Mean hourly wage | $27.15 | $33.54 |
| Median hourly wage | $21.78 | $24.51 |
| Jobs counted | 701,610 | 155,495,730 |
Prices matter as much as pay. BEA's regional price parity for West Virginia in 2024 is 89.5, where the United States = 100: overall prices there were about 10.5% below the national price level. A salary goes further where the index is lower.
What jobs in West Virginia pay, from low to high
One job in ten in West Virginia paid less than $26,070 a year, and one in ten paid more than $98,220. A quarter paid less than $31,530; a quarter paid more than $64,940.
| Area | 10th | 25th | Median | 75th | 90th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | $26,070 | $31,530 | $45,300 | $64,940 | $98,220 |
| United States | $31,200 | $37,590 | $50,980 | $80,520 | $128,560 |
Pay by job group in West Virginia
The largest group in West Virginia is office and administrative support, with 80,630 jobs (11% of the total, calculated). The best-paid group by median is management ($93,590); the lowest-paid is food preparation and serving related ($27,680). Where BLS does not release a figure, the table says so.
| Job group | Jobs | Median salary | Mean (average) salary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office and Administrative Support | 80,630 | $39,090 | $42,940 |
| Healthcare Practitioners and Technical | 64,450 | $76,530 | $94,930 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related | 60,770 | $27,680 | $30,570 |
| Transportation and Material Moving | 59,900 | $37,210 | $42,230 |
| Sales and Related | 59,570 | $30,360 | $38,460 |
| Construction and Extraction | 42,670 | $57,620 | $59,660 |
| Educational Instruction and Library | 42,210 | $52,820 | $55,210 |
| Management | 42,090 | $93,590 | $109,260 |
| Healthcare Support | 40,080 | $32,210 | $34,140 |
| Installation, Maintenance, and Repair | 35,400 | $49,740 | $56,380 |
| Production | 34,180 | $46,490 | $51,260 |
| Business and Financial Operations | 32,310 | $69,910 | $77,390 |
| Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance | 21,950 | $31,150 | $34,180 |
| Protective Service | 16,160 | $45,390 | $45,980 |
| Computer and Mathematical | 14,520 | $80,720 | $92,890 |
| Community and Social Service | 14,490 | $48,690 | $51,920 |
| Personal Care and Service | 12,010 | $29,430 | $33,680 |
| Architecture and Engineering | 9,590 | $84,440 | $93,520 |
| Life, Physical, and Social Science | 7,300 | $68,400 | $76,610 |
| Legal | 5,310 | $80,060 | $94,040 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media | 5,080 | $45,830 | $54,710 |
| Farming, Fishing, and Forestry | 950 | $37,000 | $40,630 |
The occupations with the most jobs in West Virginia
9 of the 12 largest occupations in West Virginia with a published annual median paid a median below the all-jobs median of $45,300 (calculated from the BLS figures).
| Occupation | Jobs | Median salary |
|---|---|---|
| Registered Nurses | 23,430 | $80,130 |
| Retail Salespersons | 19,050 | $28,950 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | 18,890 | $28,010 |
| Cashiers | 17,360 | $26,370 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | 16,490 | $23,120 |
| General and Operations Managers | 15,300 | $82,500 |
| Stockers and Order Fillers | 12,520 | $34,510 |
| Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers | 12,190 | $49,480 |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 11,300 | $36,990 |
| Customer Service Representatives | 9,860 | $38,430 |
| Office Clerks, General | 9,430 | $35,020 |
| Nursing Assistants | 9,390 | $36,720 |
Go deeper
The best-paid occupations, ranked.
Open →Pay floorWest Virginia minimum wageThe state's hourly floor.
Open →PricesCost of living in West VirginiaWhat a salary buys there.
Open →Between jobsWest Virginia unemployment benefitsThe weekly maximum and weeks payable.
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Questions people ask
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How this page is built
Every pay figure is a BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) May 2025 estimate for all occupations in West Virginia (occupation code 00-0000), copied from BLS's data file; the job-group and occupation rows come from the same file. The average is BLS's mean wage (total wages divided by jobs); the median is the wage in the middle. OEWS wages are straight-time gross pay: they include commissions, tips, production bonuses and cost-of-living allowances, and leave out overtime premiums, shift differentials, nonproduction bonuses and benefits. BLS turns hourly wages into annual ones at 2,080 hours (40 hours for 52 weeks). Ranks, differences and shares are TryHired calculations from the BLS figures. Price levels are BEA Regional Price Parities.
- Household income: this page reports pay per job, not household or family income, which the Census Bureau measures differently.
- Starting pay: the figures include experienced workers. Entry-level pay is usually lower.
- Take-home pay: every figure is before taxes and deductions.
- Self-employment and farm work: not covered by OEWS (see the FAQ).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates: national, state and metropolitan-area data files (public domain).
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS technical notes: what the survey counts as wages and jobs.
- U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024 (released Feb 19, 2026).