Architectural and Engineering Managers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$118,776
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$45,914
27.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$121,821
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
$164,690
Kept after tax
$118,776
Worth in national money
$121,821
State rank
24
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Pennsylvania pays this job around $164,690 at the midpoint, 24 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Pennsylvania. It ranks 6 out of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $164,690, tax leaves $118,776, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $121,821 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $167,960, since top earners drag the number up.
- For architectural and engineering managers the Pennsylvania median is $164,690, ranking 24 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Pennsylvania, architectural and engineering managers ranks 6 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 architectural and engineering managers — median $164,690 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $118,776 retained, $121,821 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $167,960 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Architectural and Engineering Managers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $118,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $164,690 |
| Top tenth earn over | $221,940 |
| This salary | $164,690 |
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 | $118,776 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $123,832 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$5,610 |
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 | $157,293 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$7,976 |
| 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 $164,690. The published range is $118,170 up to $221,940, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $118,776 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $164,690. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 6 of 492.
- Two cautions on $121,821, the adjusted value of that $164,690 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Pennsylvania. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 6 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for architectural and engineering managers in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $118,170 to $221,940. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $118,776, from $164,690, assumes a single Pennsylvania filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 6 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 24 of 51 for it.
- This $121,821 adjusted figure, worked from $164,690, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 6 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 6 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $118,170 at the tenth percentile, $221,940 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $121,821.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Pennsylvania then takes its own share, leaving $118,776.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($118,170 to $221,940) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Pennsylvania rather than a national figure.
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 $121,821 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 $118,776 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.