What Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand earn in Culpeper County, VA
The median pay for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Culpeper County, VA is $42,590 per year, which works out to $20.48 per hour. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics wage survey for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, the labor market that Culpeper County, VA belongs to. Half of the workers in this occupation earn more than the median and half earn less, which makes it a sturdier yardstick than an average that a few very high earners can pull upward.
The mean wage is $43,990, which is 3.3% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 28,510 people working in this occupation across the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Culpeper County, VA has roughly 54,397 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $35,290 a year ($16.97 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $55,190 or more ($26.53 an hour). That is a gap of $19,900 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $37,490 at the 25th percentile and $47,430 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.6 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $20.48 an hour or $42,590 a year at the median for Culpeper County, VA. Before any deductions, that is $3,549 a month, $1,638 every two weeks and $819 each week. After taxes the same job pays $16.68 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand this way: "Manually move freight, stock, luggage, or other materials, or perform other general labor. Includes all manual laborers not elsewhere classified."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Read work orders or receive oral instructions to determine work assignments or material or equipment needs"; "Move freight, stock, or other materials to and from storage or production areas, loading docks, delivery vehicles, ships, or containers, by hand or using trucks, tractors, or other equipment"; "Maintain equipment storage areas to ensure that inventory is protected".
Job outlook for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 2,940,300 jobs in 2025 to 2,991,900 in 2035, a change of +1.8%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 340,500 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 11.6% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: no formal educational credential. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: short-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $40,240 for this occupation; the Culpeper County, VA median of $42,590 is 5.8% above it.
How pay in Culpeper County, VA compares
Compared with the Virginia average
A worker in this occupation in Culpeper County, VA earns $1,636 more than the Virginia average of $40,954, a premium of 4.0%. Over a year that premium is worth $1,636 before tax and roughly $1,333 after tax. Within Virginia, Culpeper County, VA already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand is $41,056 across the contiguous United States. At $42,590, Culpeper County, VA pays $1,534 more, which is 3.7% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Culpeper County, VA
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in Culpeper County, VA, Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand ranks number 553 by median pay, ahead of about 11% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $195,190 a year, which is $152,600 more than the median for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand earning the Culpeper County, VA median of $42,590, they add up to $7,890. The result is $34,700 of take-home pay a year ($2,892 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $19 goes to taxes and $81 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 18.5%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $26,840. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $2,982, an effective 7.0% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $2,641 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $618. FICA totals $3,258, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Virginia
Virginia income tax on this salary is $1,649 a year, or 3.9% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 55% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $137 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Culpeper County, VA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Culpeper County, VA show an average adjusted gross income of $83,071 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 11.8% across all filers. Filers in the $25,000 to under $50,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 5.2%, compared with the 7.0% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Culpeper County, VA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Culpeper County, VA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $34,700 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Culpeper County, VA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,299 a month ($15,588 a year), and at $1,596 for two bedrooms. For Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand, a one-bedroom absorbs 44.9% of take-home pay and 36.6% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 8.1% of gross pay for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Culpeper County, VA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Virginia residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,523 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $597, for $2,119 in total. Gasoline in Virginia averages $3.09 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,429.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $22,572 a year in Culpeper County, VA. Subtract that from $34,700 of take-home pay and $12,129 remains, which is $1,011 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 28.5% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Culpeper County, VA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Culpeper County, VA: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Culpeper County, VA, set beside the Virginia and national medians.
Property taxes in Culpeper County, VA
Homeowners in Culpeper County, VA pay a median of $2,141 a year in real estate taxes, 23% below the Virginia median of $2,790 and 31% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $409,200, the median tax bill is 0.52% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand median of $42,590, a tax bill of that size would equal 5.0% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Culpeper County, VA
Renters in Culpeper County, VA pay a median gross rent of $1,423 a month in the Census survey, 10% below the Virginia median of $1,579. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,299 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $409,200, 7% above the Virginia median of $383,700. Median household income is $100,049, 7% above the Virginia median of $93,170, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 15.6% of that income.
Commuting in Culpeper County, VA
Workers in Culpeper County, VA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 35.9 minutes each way, 32% above the Virginia average of 27.3. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 6.0 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 11.3% of workers in Culpeper County, VA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand afford to live in Culpeper County, VA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $42,590 that ceiling is $1,065 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,299 is $234 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $24.98 an hour; the median for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand is $20.48, which is 18% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $16.68 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 18.0 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,596 a month means $798 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $6,012 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $18,141.
How fast you can save
At $1,011 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 10 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 20 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand pay in Culpeper County, VA
How much do Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand make per hour in Culpeper County, VA?
The median is $20.48 per hour, based on $42,590 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $16.97 at the 10th percentile to $26.53 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand take home after taxes in Culpeper County, VA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $42,590 becomes $34,700 a year. That is $2,892 a month, $1,335 every two weeks or $667 a week.
How much tax do Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand pay in Culpeper County, VA?
Total taxes are $7,890 a year, an effective rate of 18.5%: $2,982 federal income tax, $3,258 FICA and $1,649 Virginia income tax.
Do Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand earn more in Culpeper County, VA than elsewhere in Virginia?
Yes. The local median of $42,590 is +4.0% versus the Virginia average of $40,954, a difference of $1,636 a year.
Can Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand afford a one-bedroom apartment in Culpeper County, VA?
A one-bedroom costs $1,299 a month against take-home pay of $2,892, which is 44.9% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,065 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Culpeper County, VA?
About $1,011 a month ($12,129 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $22,572 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Culpeper County, VA at the 30% guideline?
$24.98 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $15,588 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand is $20.48.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Virginia rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.