Counter and Rental Clerks in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$35,341
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$7,569
17.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$36,247
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
$42,910
Kept after tax
$35,341
Worth in national money
$36,247
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for counter and rental clerks. The median is $42,910, ranking 22 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Pennsylvania, this one sits low: 401 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $42,910, tax leaves $35,341, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $36,247 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $44,010, since top earners drag the number up.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for counter and rental clerks: a median of $42,910, ranking 22 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Counter and rental clerks occupies position 401 of 492 in Pennsylvania's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for counter and rental clerks — median $42,910 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $35,341 retained, $36,247 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $44,010 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Counter and Rental Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $42,910 |
| Top tenth earn over | $61,760 |
| This salary | $42,910 |
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 | $35,341 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $36,658 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,477 |
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 | $41,270 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,786 |
| 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 $42,910. The published range is $26,520 up to $61,760, 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 $35,341, worked from $42,910. 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 401 of 492.
- Two cautions on $36,247, the adjusted value of that $42,910 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 401 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for counter and rental clerks in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $26,520 to $61,760. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $35,341, on $42,910 for work ranking 401 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 401 of 492 in the state.
- This $36,247 adjusted figure, worked from $42,910, 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 401 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 401 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 $26,520 and the top tenth $61,760 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $36,247 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 $35,341.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($26,520) and the ninetieth ($61,760) 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 $36,247 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 $35,341 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.