Childcare Workers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,472
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$4,668
15.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$26,125
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
$30,140
Kept after tax
$25,472
Worth in national money
$26,125
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Pennsylvania pays childcare workers around $30,140 at the midpoint, 33 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 492 occupations Pennsylvania publishes, childcare workers lands at 478. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $30,140, tax leaves $25,472, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $26,125 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $31,510, since top earners drag the number up.
- For childcare workers the Pennsylvania median is $30,140, ranking 33 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, this work ranks 478 of 492 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for childcare workers — median $30,140 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $25,472 retained, $26,125 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $31,510 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Childcare Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,710 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $30,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $39,290 |
| This salary | $30,140 |
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 | $25,472 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,397 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,040 |
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 | $28,988 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,257 |
| 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 $30,140. The published range is $22,710 up to $39,290, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $25,472, from $30,140, 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 478 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 $26,125, the adjusted value of that $30,140 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 478 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for childcare workers in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $22,710 to $39,290. 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 $25,472 from $30,140. 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 478 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $26,125 — the adjusted value of that $30,140 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 478 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $31,510, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $22,710 at the bottom tenth to $39,290 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $26,125.
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 $25,472.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $31,510. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($22,710 to $39,290) 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 $26,125 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 $25,472 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.