Animal Caretakers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$26,415
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$4,945
15.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$27,092
Pennsylvania costs less than average
On that salary you would be around the 25th percentile for this work in Pennsylvania — roughly, since only five points along the band are published.
One filer, standard deduction, no dependants and nothing paid in before tax — the same household the rest of this page uses, so the comparison holds. City and school-district income taxes are not included.
Median here
$31,360
Kept after tax
$26,415
Worth in national money
$27,092
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Pennsylvania is 30 of 51 states for animal caretakers, with a middle wage of $31,360. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Pennsylvania this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, animal caretakers ranks 472. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $31,360 the take-home is $26,415, which is worth about $27,092 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $34,110, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Pennsylvania ranks 30 of 51 for animal caretakers at $31,360. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Against every occupation Pennsylvania reports, animal caretakers ranks 472 of 492, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Pennsylvania's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for animal caretakers on its $31,360 median: $26,415 retained after tax becomes $27,092 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $34,110 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Animal Caretakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $23,430 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $31,360 |
| Top tenth earn over | $47,960 |
| This salary | $31,360 |
Positions between the published tenth, quarter, half, three-quarter and ninetieth points are estimated by straight line.
The same pay, somewhere else
The state median for this job
| Take-home in Pennsylvania | $26,415 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $27,378 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,081 |
State income tax and state price levels only. No city income tax, and no housing market.
What you would need there
The state median for this job
| To match take-home only | $30,162 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,308 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Pennsylvania earn less than $31,360. The published range is $23,430 up to $47,960, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Pennsylvania's $26,415, worked from $31,360. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 472 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $27,092, the adjusted value of that $31,360 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 472 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for animal caretakers in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $23,430 to $47,960. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $26,415, on $31,360 for work ranking 472 of 492 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 472 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $27,092 — the adjusted value of that $31,360 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 472 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $34,110, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $23,430 and the top tenth $47,960 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Pennsylvania sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $27,092 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Pennsylvania adds its own income tax on top — which is why $26,415 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
How does the published median differ from the mean for this occupation?
The median is the midpoint of the distribution; the mean for this occupation in Pennsylvania is $34,110. Wage distributions are right-skewed, so the mean exceeds the median wherever a minority earn substantially more. BLS publishes both because substituting one for the other misstates a typical worker's pay.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($23,430) and the ninetieth ($47,960) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
What is this occupation's price-adjusted compensation in this state?
Pennsylvania's regional price parity is at or below the national average, so nominal wages understate purchasing power. Take-home deflated by the state price level is $27,092 in national-average terms. The adjustment uses an all-items index and does not isolate housing.
What accounts for the gap between gross wage and take-home here?
Take-home of $26,415 reflects federal income tax, OASDI, Medicare and Pennsylvania income tax for a single filer with no adjustments. The state layer is levied in addition to the federal one; only its rate and base differ between states.
Is this occupation's state coverage complete?
State-level estimates are published for all 51 jurisdictions for this occupation, so cross-state comparison is not confounded by suppression. ⚠️ Estimates remain survey-based and carry sampling error; small differences between adjacent states should not be over-read.