Architects, Except Landscape and Naval in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,112
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$22,918
23.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$76,012
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
$97,030
Kept after tax
$74,112
Worth in national money
$76,012
State rank
30
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $97,030, ranking 30 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Pennsylvania. It ranks 76 out of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $97,030, tax leaves $74,112, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $76,012 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $98,700, since top earners drag the number up.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for architects, except landscape and naval: a median of $97,030, ranking 30 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Within Pennsylvania, architects, except landscape and naval ranks 76 of 492 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for architects, except landscape and naval — median $97,030 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $74,112 retained, $76,012 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $98,700 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Architects, Except Landscape and Naval
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $149,950 |
| This salary | $97,030 |
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 | $74,112 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,091 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,320 |
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 | $92,796 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,585 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of architects, except landscape and naval in Pennsylvania earn under $97,030 and half over. The published range runs $61,690 at the tenth percentile to $149,950 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $74,112, from $97,030, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 76 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $76,012 uses one figure for the whole of Pennsylvania. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 76.
- Figures are distribution medians for architects, except landscape and naval in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $61,690 to $149,950; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Take-home for Pennsylvania is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $74,112 from $97,030. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 76 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $76,012, worked from $97,030, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Pennsylvania address, on work sitting at 76 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $61,690, the highest tenth $149,950, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $76,012 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 $74,112 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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($61,690) and the ninetieth ($149,950) 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 $76,012 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 $74,112 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.