Commercial Pilots in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$98,761
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$35,269
26.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$101,293
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
$134,030
Kept after tax
$98,761
Worth in national money
$101,293
State rank
11
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for commercial pilots is strong here. Pennsylvania's middle earner gets $134,030, putting the state 11 of 48 — about 8.77% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Pennsylvania. It ranks 17 out of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- No great distortion either way. Pennsylvania costs about what the country costs, so from $134,030, take-home of $98,761 is worth roughly $101,293 in national money. The average comes to $151,950, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For commercial pilots, Pennsylvania sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $134,030, ranking 11 of 48 and running about 8.77% 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.
- Within Pennsylvania, commercial pilots ranks 17 of 492 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Price parity in Pennsylvania is near the national base, so for commercial pilots, whose median is $134,030, the adjusted figure of $101,293 differs little from $98,761 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $151,950 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Commercial Pilots
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $74,610 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $134,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $263,290 |
| This salary | $134,030 |
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 | $98,761 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $102,876 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,573 |
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 | $128,010 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$6,502 |
| 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 $134,030. The published range is $74,610 up to $263,290, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Pennsylvania's $98,761, worked from $134,030. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 17 of 492.
- Two cautions on $101,293, the adjusted value of that $134,030 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 17 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for commercial pilots in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $74,610 to $263,290. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $98,761, on $134,030 for work ranking 17 of 492 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 17 of 492 in the state.
- This $101,293 adjusted figure, worked from $134,030, 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 17 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 17 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 $151,950, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $74,610, the highest tenth $263,290, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $101,293.
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, $98,761 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 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 $151,950. 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 ($74,610) and the ninetieth ($263,290) 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 $101,293 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 $98,761 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.