Credit Counselors in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,257
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$11,073
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,469
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
$58,330
Kept after tax
$47,257
Worth in national money
$48,469
State rank
13
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for credit counselors is strong here. Pennsylvania's middle earner gets $58,330, putting the state 13 of 46 — about 11.68% ahead of the national figure.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Pennsylvania reports figures for, this is number 251.
- No great distortion either way. Pennsylvania costs about what the country costs, so from $58,330, take-home of $47,257 is worth roughly $48,469 in national money. The average comes to $60,680, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For credit counselors, Pennsylvania sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $58,330, ranking 13 of 46 and running about 11.68% 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.
- In Pennsylvania's occupational distribution, credit counselors sits at 251 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.
- Price parity in Pennsylvania is near the national base, so for credit counselors, whose median is $58,330, the adjusted figure of $48,469 differs little from $47,257 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $60,680 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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: Credit Counselors
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $41,100 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,190 |
| This salary | $58,330 |
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 | $47,257 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,048 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,005 |
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 | $56,101 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,425 |
| 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 $58,330. The published range is $41,100 up to $82,190, 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 $47,257, worked from $58,330. 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 251 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $48,469 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 251.
- Reported values are medians; for credit counselors in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $41,100 to $82,190. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $47,257, on $58,330 for work ranking 251 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 251 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $48,469, worked from $58,330, 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 251 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 $60,680 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 $41,100 at the bottom tenth to $82,190 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Pennsylvania sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $48,469 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $47,257.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $60,680. 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 ($41,100 to $82,190) 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 $48,469 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 $47,257 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.