Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$44,367
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$10,223
18.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$45,505
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
$54,590
Kept after tax
$44,367
Worth in national money
$45,505
State rank
13
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Pennsylvania's middle earner gets $54,590, putting the state 13 of 48 — about 7.69% ahead of the national figure.
- Against other work in Pennsylvania, this sits in the middle: 281 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 $54,590, tax leaves $44,367, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $45,505 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $56,360, since top earners drag the number up.
- For computer numerically controlled tool operators, Pennsylvania sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $54,590, ranking 13 of 48 and running about 7.69% 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.
- Computer numerically controlled tool operators ranks 281 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 computer numerically controlled tool operators — median $54,590 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $44,367 retained, $45,505 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $56,360 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Computer Numerically Controlled Tool Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $40,410 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $54,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,420 |
| This salary | $54,590 |
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 | $44,367 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $46,043 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,877 |
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 | $52,504 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,270 |
| 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 $54,590. The published range is $40,410 up to $74,420, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $44,367 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $54,590. 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 281 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $45,505 uses one figure for the whole of Pennsylvania. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 281.
- Reported values are medians; for computer numerically controlled tool operators in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $40,410 to $74,420. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $44,367, from $54,590, 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 281 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 13 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $45,505, worked from $54,590, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Pennsylvania address, on work sitting at 281 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $56,360 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $40,410 at the bottom tenth to $74,420 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Pennsylvania is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $45,505 in national terms.
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 $44,367.
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 $56,360. 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 ($40,410 to $74,420) 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 $45,505 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 $44,367 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.