Crane and Tower Operators in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$52,559
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$12,631
19.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,906
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
$65,190
Kept after tax
$52,559
Worth in national money
$53,906
State rank
29
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Pennsylvania pays crane and tower operators around $65,190 at the midpoint, 29 of 50 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Pennsylvania reports figures for, this is number 189.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $65,190, tax leaves $52,559, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $53,906 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $68,580, since top earners drag the number up.
- For crane and tower operators the Pennsylvania median is $65,190, ranking 29 of 50 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- In Pennsylvania's occupational distribution, crane and tower operators sits at 189 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for crane and tower operators — median $65,190 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $52,559 retained, $53,906 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $68,580 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Crane and Tower Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,320 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $65,190 |
| Top tenth earn over | $106,380 |
| This salary | $65,190 |
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 | $52,559 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $54,560 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,240 |
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 | $62,699 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,709 |
| 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 $65,190. The published range is $44,320 up to $106,380, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $52,559, from $65,190, 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 189 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $53,906 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 189.
- Reported values are medians; for crane and tower operators in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $44,320 to $106,380. 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 $52,559 from $65,190. 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 189 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $53,906, worked from $65,190, 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 189 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $68,580, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $44,320 at the bottom tenth to $106,380 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $53,906 in national terms.
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 $52,559 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $68,580. 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 ($44,320) and the ninetieth ($106,380) 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 $53,906 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 $52,559 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.