BLS May 2024 · Federal/FICA 2026 · HUD FY2026

Architects, Except Landscape and Naval Offer in Virginia Beach, VA: Is It Worth It?

Default scenario: $120,430 projected gross pay, 2026 Single tax profile, and HUD FMR 1BR rent.

2026 Base Projection (adjusted +5.1% for inflation from latest BLS release) 520 employed in mapped MSA
Default verdict
Safe

Rent stays under the standard 30% burden line and leaves a healthy monthly buffer.

Monthly take-home
$7,264/mo
After HUD FMR
$5,914/mo
Main pressure
No single pressure source
Confidence
Cmodeled scenario
Rent: $1,350/mo HUD FMR 1BRRent burden: 19%Effective tax: 28%Static profile: 2026 Single
Source scope and confidence
BLS OEWS wage estimate · Confidence B
May 2024 · MSA / non-MSA where available
Inflation-indexed salary projection · Confidence C
2026 projection from 2024 wage base · Role x metro default scenario
Federal/FICA/state tax estimate · Confidence C
2026 federal/FICA profile · Single, Married Filing Jointly, or Head of Household plus simplified state income tax
HUD 1BR Fair Market Rent · Confidence B
FY2026 where imported · HUD metro/HMFA-style rent area mapped to site metro
Geography is mapped to Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC. HUD FMR is a 40th percentile gross rent benchmark. Default page metrics use the 2026 Single federal/FICA profile; the offer evaluator supports MFJ and HOH scenarios.

Core Salary Percentiles

$114,630
Median Annual
$63k$159k
$63k$83k$120k (Est. 2026)$141k$159k
A balanced cost-salary picture in Virginia Beach
At $120,430, this role in Virginia Beach offers 98% of national purchasing power. After taxes and estimated housing costs, you'd have approximately $3,387/month in disposable income.
Offer-to-outcome scenario

Run this offer through Virginia Beach

SafeConfidence C scenario
Filing status
Housing mode

Rent stays under the standard 30% burden line and leaves a healthy monthly buffer.

Monthly take-home
$7,264/mo
After rent
$5,914/mo
Rent burden
19%
Effective tax
28%
2026 SingleHUD FMR 1BR: $1,350/moVs page baseline: +0%

Static page metrics still use the default Single profile. This scenario updates locally from the 2026 federal/FICA profile, simplified state tax table, and the selected rent assumption. It does not include credits, benefits, dependents, or every local tax.

Purchasing Power

$87,173/yr
After-Tax Income (Est.)
Source and formula
Source
IRS 2026 federal tax schedules, SSA 2026 OASDI wage base, and salary.city state tax table
Vintage
Federal/FICA 2026; state table snapshot in code
Scope
Default page metric uses Single filing status and the mapped state
Confidence
C
Formula
Projected gross salary - federal income tax - FICA - estimated state income tax
Assumptions
  • Uses the 2026 Single federal/FICA profile for default page metrics.
  • State tax is computed from the simplified state table or fallback brackets.
  • No credits, itemized deductions, dependents, pre-tax benefits, or local taxes are included.
Limitations
  • Offer Evaluator supports MFJ and HOH scenarios, but static page metrics default to Single.
  • State and local tax coverage is not yet a full jurisdiction-level model.
$7,264/mo
Monthly Take-Home (Est.)
Source and formula
Source
After-tax income estimate from salary.city tax engine
Vintage
Federal/FICA 2026; state table snapshot in code
Scope
Annual tax estimate divided into 12 equal months
Confidence
C
Formula
After-tax income / 12
Assumptions
  • Assumes salary is earned evenly across the year.
  • Uses the same default Single profile as the static after-tax metric.
Limitations
  • Does not model pay frequency, bonus timing, payroll elections, benefit deductions, or withholding form settings.
101.7
Cost of Living Index
98%
Purchasing Power (Est.)
Source and formula
Source
Projected salary and salary.city regional cost index
Vintage
2026 projection from 2024 wage base; Site model snapshot
Scope
Role x mapped metro default scenario
Confidence
C
Formula
(National average cost index / metro cost index) x 100
Assumptions
  • National average cost index is 100.
  • Projected salary is inflation-indexed from the latest wage base.
Limitations
  • Projection is an estimate, not an observed 2026 payroll value.
  • Metro averages can hide neighborhood, household, and consumption differences.
Salary Equivalent
In San Francisco:$224,637/yr
In New York City:$221,676/yr

Tax Liability Blueprint

Base Compensation$120,430
Federal Tax-$17,665
FICA / Medicare-$9,213
State Tax (VA)-$6,380
Effective Tax Rate27.6%
Estimated with the 2026 Single federal/FICA profile. Credits, itemized deductions, dependents, and local taxes are not fully modeled.

Housing Affordability

$1,350/mo
HUD FMR 1BR
Source and formula
Source
HUD 1BR Fair Market Rent
Vintage
FY2026 where imported
Scope
HUD metro/HMFA-style rent area mapped to site metro
Confidence
B
Formula
Mapped metro rent = imported HUD 1BR FMR when available; otherwise site fallback rent value
Assumptions
  • Uses one-bedroom rent as the default housing benchmark.
  • Maps the site metro to the nearest available HUD rent area in the imported data.
Limitations
  • FMR is a 40th percentile gross rent benchmark, not median market rent.
  • Does not represent luxury rents, neighborhood rents, roommate situations, or user-entered actual rent.
19%
Rent-to-Income Ratio
$5,914/mo
Disposable After HUD FMR

Architects, Except Landscape and Naval — Other Cities

CityMedian /yrCOLPower
San Jose, CA $134k195.351%
San Francisco, CA $126k189.753%
Sacramento, CA $119k120.383%
San Diego, CA $118k160.162%
Virginia Beach, VA $115k101.798%
Providence, RI $106k105.295%
Washington, DC $106k152.166%
Hartford, CT $105k110.890%

Top Salaries in Virginia Beach

RoleMedian /yrTake-Home
Computer and Information Systems Managers $171k$10k/mo
Marketing Managers $153k$9k/mo
Product Managers $136k$8k/mo
Pharmacists $135k$8k/mo
Human Resources Managers $132k$8k/mo
Aerospace Engineers $132k$8k/mo
Lawyers $126k$8k/mo
Software Developers $126k$8k/mo

Similar Creative Roles in Virginia Beach

RoleMedian /yrTake-Home
Technical Writers$77k$5k/mo
Graphic Designers$61k$4k/mo
SOURCE-AWARE DATA LAYER

Data Methodology & Authenticity

Eleanor Vance
Eleanor Vance(Credentials)
Lead Data Editor
01Official BLS Sources

Aggregated from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS dataset where role and metro coverage exists. These are official survey-based wage estimates, not local payroll records.

02Inflation Alignment

Historical wage data is inflation-indexed to 2026 for a forward-looking scenario. Projected values are labeled separately from observed BLS wage estimates.

03IRS Tax Deduction Engine

Wage bands are processed through a 2026 federal/FICA tax profile with Single, Married Filing Jointly, and Head of Household options. State taxes remain simplified estimates and can change with credits, deductions, and local taxes.

04HUD Fair Market Rents

Rental deductions use HUD 1-bedroom Fair Market Rent where available. FMR is a 40th percentile gross rent benchmark, so we label it as FMR instead of median rent.

05DoL H-1B Verification

H-1B offer context is drawn from U.S. Department of Labor OFLC disclosure data when shown. It is used as a separate market signal, not as the source of the core BLS wage estimate.

Frequently Asked Questions

A $114,630 salary in Virginia Beach, VA provides 98% of national-average purchasing power. After federal and state taxes, you'd take home approximately $7,264/month. With the median home price at $320,000, the home-price-to-income ratio is 2.7x. The higher cost of living in this area reduces purchasing power below the national average.