What Bakers earn in Fredericksburg city, VA
According to the latest federal wage data for the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area, the median pay for Bakers in Fredericksburg city, VA is $38,650 a year, or $18.58 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $31,761 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Fredericksburg city, VA.
The mean wage is $40,970, which is 6.0% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 5,740 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. Fredericksburg city, VA has roughly 28,873 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Bakers in the Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $32,500 a year ($15.63 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $49,650 or more ($23.87 an hour). That is a gap of $17,150 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $35,380 at the 25th percentile and $45,550 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 1.5 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Converted to an hourly wage, the median for Bakers in Fredericksburg city, VA is $18.58. A full-time schedule of 40 hours for 52 weeks adds up to $38,650, and the same salary is $3,221 a month before taxes or about $1,487 per biweekly pay period. After taxes the same job pays $15.27 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Bakers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Bakers this way: "Mix and bake ingredients to produce breads, rolls, cookies, cakes, pies, pastries, or other baked goods."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Observe color of products being baked, and adjust oven temperatures, humidity, or conveyor speeds accordingly"; "Set oven temperatures, and place items into hot ovens for baking"; "Combine measured ingredients in bowls of mixing, blending, or cooking machinery"; "Measure or weigh flour or other ingredients to prepare batters, doughs, fillings, or icings, using scales or graduated containers".
Job outlook for Bakers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 262,400 jobs in 2025 to 276,900 in 2035, a change of +5.5%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 36,500 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 13.9% of current employment each year. About 10.1% of the people in this occupation are self-employed, and wage figures cover wage and salary workers only.
Typical entry-level education: no formal educational credential. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: moderate-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $37,160 for this occupation; the Fredericksburg city, VA median of $38,650 is 4.0% above it.
How pay in Fredericksburg city, VA compares
Compared with the Virginia average
Fredericksburg city, VA pays above the state benchmark. The Virginia employment-weighted average for Bakers is $36,099; the local median of $38,650 beats it by $2,551, or 7.1%. Within Virginia, Fredericksburg city, VA already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Bakers is $37,120 across the contiguous United States. At $38,650, Fredericksburg city, VA pays $1,530 more, which is 4.1% 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 Fredericksburg city, VA
Among the 618 occupations with published wages in Fredericksburg city, VA, Bakers ranks number 582 by median pay, ahead of about 6% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $195,190 a year, which is $156,540 more than the median for Bakers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
A salary of $38,650 does not arrive in full. We model a single filer with wage income only, the standard deduction and tax-year 2025 rules, and we keep the three tax layers apart: federal income tax, FICA (Social Security and Medicare) and state income tax. Together they take $6,889 a year, which leaves $31,761, or $2,647 a month.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $18 goes to taxes and $82 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 17.8%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $22,900. 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 $2,510, an effective 6.5% 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 $2,396 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $560. FICA totals $2,957, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Virginia
Virginia income tax on this salary is $1,423 a year, or 3.7% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 57% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $119 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 Fredericksburg city, VA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Fredericksburg city, VA show an average adjusted gross income of $91,386 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 14.1% 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 6.5% 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 Fredericksburg city, VA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Fredericksburg city, VA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $31,761 of take-home pay.
Rent
The HUD Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Fredericksburg city, VA is $2,204 a month, or $26,448 a year. A two-bedroom costs $2,438 a month. For Bakers, a one-bedroom absorbs 83.3% of take-home pay and 68.4% 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 8.9% of gross pay for Bakers in Fredericksburg city, 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
The basics cost $33,432 a year in Fredericksburg city, VA, but take-home pay for Bakers is $31,761. That is a shortfall of $1,671 a year, or $139 a month, before health care, transportation beyond fuel, debt or savings. Closing the gap would take roughly 109 extra paid hours a year at the take-home hourly rate of $15.27, or a second earner, a cheaper home or a roommate.
Local housing and commute data for Fredericksburg city, VA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Fredericksburg city, 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 Fredericksburg city, VA, set beside the Virginia and national medians.
Property taxes in Fredericksburg city, VA
Homeowners in Fredericksburg city, VA pay a median of $2,907 a year in real estate taxes, 4% above the Virginia median of $2,790 and 7% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $483,700, the median tax bill is 0.60% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Bakers median of $38,650, a tax bill of that size would equal 7.5% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Fredericksburg city, VA
Renters in Fredericksburg city, VA pay a median gross rent of $1,619 a month in the Census survey, 3% above the Virginia median of $1,579. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $2,204 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 $483,700, 26% above the Virginia median of $383,700. Median household income is $86,071, 8% below the Virginia median of $93,170, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 30.7% of that income.
Commuting in Fredericksburg city, VA
Workers in Fredericksburg city, VA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 31.9 minutes each way, 17% above the Virginia average of 27.3. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.3 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 16.9% of workers in Fredericksburg city, VA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Bakers afford to live in Fredericksburg city, VA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $38,650 that ceiling is $966 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $2,204 is $1,238 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $42.38 an hour; the median for Bakers is $18.58, which is 56% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $15.27 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 33.3 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $2,438 a month means $1,219 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $11,820 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $10,149, which turns the shortfall into a surplus.
How fast you can save
With no monthly margin after the four basics, saving requires a change on one side of the ledger: higher pay than the $38,650 median, lower housing costs than the $2,204 one-bedroom rent, or a second income.
Frequently asked questions about Bakers pay in Fredericksburg city, VA
What is the hourly wage for Bakers in Fredericksburg city, VA?
The median is $18.58 per hour, based on $38,650 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $15.63 at the 10th percentile to $23.87 at the 90th percentile.
What is the take-home pay for Bakers in Fredericksburg city, VA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $38,650 becomes $31,761 a year. That is $2,647 a month, $1,222 every two weeks or $611 a week.
What percentage of pay goes to taxes for Bakers in Fredericksburg city, VA?
Total taxes are $6,889 a year, an effective rate of 17.8%: $2,510 federal income tax, $2,957 FICA and $1,423 Virginia income tax.
Is pay for Bakers in Fredericksburg city, VA above the Virginia average?
Yes. The local median of $38,650 is +7.1% versus the Virginia average of $36,099, a difference of $2,551 a year.
Is a one-bedroom rent affordable on the median Bakers salary in Fredericksburg city, VA?
A one-bedroom costs $2,204 a month against take-home pay of $2,647, which is 83.3% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $966 a month.
How much is left after rent, food and energy for Bakers in Fredericksburg city, VA?
Nothing remains: the basics cost $33,432 a year, which is $1,671 more than take-home pay, a monthly shortfall of $139.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Fredericksburg city, VA at the 30% guideline?
$42.38 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $26,448 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Bakers is $18.58.
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.