Life, Physical, and Social Science Technicians, All Other Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $60K, rent takes 25.3% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,008/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new life, physical, and social science technicians, all others typically earn — is $45K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $2,723/month. At HUD’s $1,008/month FMR, rent would take 37% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $60K locally vs. $62K nationally, a 4% difference.

West Virginia pays $60K median vs. the U.S. average of $62K — that’s -4%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 89.03), the purchasing-power equivalent is $67K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $59,750 a year, that works out to about $29 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $45,380, and experienced life, physical, and social science technicians, all others can clear $85,390. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $3,990/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,008/month, which eats 25.3% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

West Virginia has a Regional Price Parity of 89.03 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median life, physical, and social science technicians, all other salary is worth about $67,112 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.