Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,893
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$11,847
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,172
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
$61,740
Kept after tax
$49,893
Worth in national money
$51,172
State rank
22
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 $61,740, ranking 22 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Pennsylvania, this sits in the middle: 218 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $61,740, tax leaves $49,893, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $51,172 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $62,680, since top earners drag the number up.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists: a median of $61,740, ranking 22 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.
- Bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists ranks 218 of 492 occupations in Pennsylvania by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists — median $61,740 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $49,893 retained, $51,172 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $62,680 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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: Bus and Truck Mechanics and Diesel Engine Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,910 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,440 |
| This salary | $61,740 |
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 | $49,893 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,788 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,122 |
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 | $59,381 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,566 |
| 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 $61,740. The published range is $45,910 up to $80,440, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $49,893 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $61,740. 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 218 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $51,172, the adjusted value of that $61,740 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 218 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for bus and truck mechanics and diesel engine specialists in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,910 to $80,440. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $49,893, from $61,740, 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 218 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 22 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $51,172 — the adjusted value of that $61,740 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 218 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $45,910 at the tenth percentile, $80,440 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 $51,172.
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 $49,893.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($45,910 to $80,440) 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 $51,172 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 $49,893 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.