Broadcast Technicians in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$62,970
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$17,500
21.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$64,585
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
$80,470
Kept after tax
$62,970
Worth in national money
$64,585
State rank
3
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Pennsylvania pays broadcast technicians a middle wage of $80,470, ranking 3 of 47 states and sitting about 35.08% above the national middle.
- Within Pennsylvania this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, broadcast technicians ranks 117 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $80,470, tax leaves $62,970, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $64,585 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $85,180, since top earners drag the number up.
- Pennsylvania's median for broadcast technicians is $80,470, about 35.08% above the national figure and 3 of 47 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Ranked against every occupation Pennsylvania publishes a median for, broadcast technicians sits 117 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.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for broadcast technicians — median $80,470 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $62,970 retained, $64,585 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $85,180 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Broadcast Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,720 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $80,470 |
| Top tenth earn over | $162,500 |
| This salary | $80,470 |
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 | $62,970 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $65,441 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,758 |
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 | $76,958 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,810 |
| 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 $80,470. The published range is $27,720 up to $162,500, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $62,970, from $80,470, 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 117 of 492 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $64,585, the adjusted value of that $80,470 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 117 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for broadcast technicians in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $27,720 to $162,500. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Pennsylvania is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $62,970 from $80,470. 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 117 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $64,585 — the adjusted value of that $80,470 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 117 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $85,180, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $27,720 and the top tenth $162,500 — 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 $64,585 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $62,970.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $85,180. 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 ($27,720) and the ninetieth ($162,500) 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 $64,585 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 $62,970 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.