Data Scientists in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$80,719
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$26,131
24.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$82,788
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
$106,850
Kept after tax
$80,719
Worth in national money
$82,788
State rank
20
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for data scientists. The median is $106,850, ranking 20 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 492 occupations Pennsylvania reports, data scientists comes in at 39 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $106,850, tax leaves $80,719, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $82,788 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $110,810, since top earners drag the number up.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for data scientists: a median of $106,850, ranking 20 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Data scientists ranks 39 of 492 occupations by median in Pennsylvania, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for data scientists — median $106,850 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $80,719 retained, $82,788 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $110,810 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Data Scientists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $63,340 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $106,850 |
| Top tenth earn over | $162,290 |
| This salary | $106,850 |
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 | $80,719 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $83,999 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,653 |
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 | $102,187 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,045 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $106,850 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $63,340 and the ninetieth is $162,290 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $80,719, from $106,850, 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 39 of 492 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $82,788, the adjusted value of that $106,850 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 39 of 492 in the state.
- The Pennsylvania median of $106,850 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $63,340 to $162,290. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Pennsylvania is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $80,719 from $106,850. 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 39 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $82,788 — the adjusted value of that $106,850 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 39 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 $110,810, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $63,340 at the bottom tenth to $162,290 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $82,788.
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 $80,719.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 49 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 $110,810. 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 ($63,340) and the ninetieth ($162,290) 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 $82,788 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 $80,719 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.