Construction and Building Inspectors in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$53,084
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$12,786
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$54,445
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
$65,870
Kept after tax
$53,084
Worth in national money
$54,445
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Pennsylvania is 33 of 51 states for construction and building inspectors, with a middle wage of $65,870. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Pennsylvania, this sits in the middle: 184 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Pennsylvania costs about what the country costs, so from $65,870, take-home of $53,084 is worth roughly $54,445 in national money. The average comes to $69,540, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Pennsylvania ranks 33 of 51 for construction and building inspectors at $65,870. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Construction and building inspectors ranks 184 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.
- Price parity in Pennsylvania is near the national base, so for construction and building inspectors, whose median is $65,870, the adjusted figure of $54,445 differs little from $53,084 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $69,540 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Construction and Building Inspectors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,610 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $65,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $93,790 |
| This salary | $65,870 |
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 | $53,084 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $55,107 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,263 |
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 | $63,353 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,737 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $65,870 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $48,610 and the ninetieth is $93,790 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $53,084 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $65,870. 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 184 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $54,445, the adjusted value of that $65,870 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 184 of 492 in the state.
- The Pennsylvania median of $65,870 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $48,610 to $93,790. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $53,084, from $65,870, 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 184 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $54,445 — the adjusted value of that $65,870 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 184 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 $69,540, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $48,610 and the top tenth $93,790, so most people doing this work in Pennsylvania sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $54,445 in national terms.
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, $53,084 remains.
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.
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 $69,540. 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 ($48,610 to $93,790) 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 $54,445 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 $53,084 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.