Audio and Video Technicians in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,145
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$10,745
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,328
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
$56,890
Kept after tax
$46,145
Worth in national money
$47,328
State rank
15
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for audio and video technicians is strong here. Pennsylvania's middle earner gets $56,890, putting the state 15 of 49 — about 2.08% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Pennsylvania reports figures for, this is number 267.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $56,890 the take-home is $46,145, which is worth about $47,328 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $61,630, because the best-paid pull it up.
- For audio and video technicians, Pennsylvania sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $56,890, ranking 15 of 49 and running about 2.08% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- In Pennsylvania's occupational distribution, audio and video technicians sits at 267 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Pennsylvania's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for audio and video technicians on its $56,890 median: $46,145 retained after tax becomes $47,328 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $61,630 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Audio and Video Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,590 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $56,890 |
| Top tenth earn over | $93,080 |
| This salary | $56,890 |
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 | $46,145 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $47,891 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,956 |
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 | $54,716 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,365 |
| 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 $56,890. The published range is $38,590 up to $93,080, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $46,145 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $56,890. 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 267 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $47,328 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 267.
- Reported values are medians; for audio and video technicians in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,590 to $93,080. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $46,145, from $56,890, 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 267 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 15 of 49 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $47,328, worked from $56,890, 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 267 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 $61,630 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 $38,590 at the bottom tenth to $93,080 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $47,328.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Pennsylvania's own levy, $46,145 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 49 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 $61,630. 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 ($38,590) and the ninetieth ($93,080) 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 $47,328 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 $46,145 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.