Civil Engineers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,663
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$23,187
23.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$76,578
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
$97,850
Kept after tax
$74,663
Worth in national money
$76,578
State rank
32
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Pennsylvania is 32 of 51 states for civil engineers, with a middle wage of $97,850. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Pennsylvania this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, civil engineers ranks 69 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $97,850 the take-home is $74,663, which is worth about $76,578 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $100,750, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Pennsylvania ranks 32 of 51 for civil engineers at $97,850. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Ranked against every occupation Pennsylvania publishes a median for, civil engineers sits 69 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 civil engineers on its $97,850 median: $74,663 retained after tax becomes $76,578 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $100,750 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Civil Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $67,930 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $141,310 |
| This salary | $97,850 |
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 | $74,663 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,667 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,347 |
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 | $93,580 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,624 |
| 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 $97,850. The published range is $67,930 up to $141,310, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $74,663, from $97,850, 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 69 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $76,578, the adjusted value of that $97,850 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 69 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for civil engineers in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $67,930 to $141,310. 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 $74,663 from $97,850. 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 69 of 492 locally.
- This $76,578 adjusted figure, worked from $97,850, 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 69 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 69 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $67,930 and the top tenth $141,310 — 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 $76,578 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 $74,663 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($67,930) and the ninetieth ($141,310) 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 $76,578 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 $74,663 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.