Database Administrators in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$76,184
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$23,926
23.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$78,137
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
$100,110
Kept after tax
$76,184
Worth in national money
$78,137
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Pennsylvania is 28 of 51 states for database administrators, with a middle wage of $100,110. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Pennsylvania. It ranks 59 out of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- No great distortion either way. Pennsylvania costs about what the country costs, so from $100,110, take-home of $76,184 is worth roughly $78,137 in national money. The average comes to $104,210, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Pennsylvania ranks 28 of 51 for database administrators at $100,110. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Pennsylvania, database administrators ranks 59 of 492 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Price parity in Pennsylvania is near the national base, so for database administrators, whose median is $100,110, the adjusted figure of $78,137 differs little from $76,184 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $104,210 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: Database Administrators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,780 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $100,110 |
| Top tenth earn over | $158,360 |
| This salary | $100,110 |
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 | $76,184 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,257 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,424 |
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 | $95,741 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,730 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of database administrators in Pennsylvania earn under $100,110 and half over. The published range runs $58,780 at the tenth percentile to $158,360 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Pennsylvania's $76,184, worked from $100,110. 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 59 of 492.
- Two cautions on $78,137, the adjusted value of that $100,110 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 59 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for database administrators in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $58,780 to $158,360; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $76,184, on $100,110 for work ranking 59 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 59 of 492 in the state.
- This $78,137 adjusted figure, worked from $100,110, 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 59 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 59 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 $104,210, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $58,780, the highest tenth $158,360, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $78,137.
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 $76,184 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
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 $104,210. 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 ($58,780) and the ninetieth ($158,360) 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 $78,137 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 $76,184 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.