Art Directors in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,394
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$23,056
23.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$76,302
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
$97,450
Kept after tax
$74,394
Worth in national money
$76,302
State rank
21
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for art directors. The median is $97,450, ranking 21 of 46 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Within Pennsylvania this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, art directors ranks 74 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $97,450 the take-home is $74,394, which is worth about $76,302 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $102,660, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for art directors: a median of $97,450, ranking 21 of 46. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Ranked against every occupation Pennsylvania publishes a median for, art directors sits 74 of 492 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Pennsylvania's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for art directors on its $97,450 median: $74,394 retained after tax becomes $76,302 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $102,660 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Art Directors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $65,470 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,450 |
| Top tenth earn over | $149,940 |
| This salary | $97,450 |
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 | $74,394 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,386 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,334 |
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 | $93,197 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,605 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $97,450 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $65,470 and the ninetieth is $149,940 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $74,394, from $97,450, 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 74 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $76,302, the adjusted value of that $97,450 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 74 of 492 locally.
- The Pennsylvania median of $97,450 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $65,470 to $149,940. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Pennsylvania is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $74,394 from $97,450. 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 74 of 492 locally.
- This $76,302 adjusted figure, worked from $97,450, 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 74 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 74 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $102,660 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $65,470 at the bottom tenth to $149,940 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $76,302 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 $74,394 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 46 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $102,660. 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 ($65,470) and the ninetieth ($149,940) 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 $76,302 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 $74,394 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.