Diagnostic Medical Sonographers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$64,477
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$18,233
22.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$66,131
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
$82,710
Kept after tax
$64,477
Worth in national money
$66,131
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is on the low side in Pennsylvania. The middle earner gets $82,710. That is 42 of 51 states, and about 14.37% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 492 occupations Pennsylvania reports, this job comes in at 105 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $82,710, tax leaves $64,477, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $66,131 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $86,130, since top earners drag the number up.
- For diagnostic medical sonographers, Pennsylvania sits in the lower band at $82,710, ranking 42 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 14.37%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Diagnostic medical sonographers ranks 105 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 diagnostic medical sonographers — median $82,710 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $64,477 retained, $66,131 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $86,130 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Diagnostic Medical Sonographers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $68,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $82,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $103,570 |
| This salary | $82,710 |
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 | $64,477 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $67,016 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,834 |
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 | $79,101 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,915 |
| 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 $82,710. The published range is $68,370 up to $103,570, 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 $64,477, worked from $82,710. 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 105 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $66,131, the adjusted value of that $82,710 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 105 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for diagnostic medical sonographers in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $68,370 to $103,570. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $64,477, on $82,710 for work ranking 105 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 105 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $66,131 — the adjusted value of that $82,710 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 105 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 $86,130, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $68,370 and the top tenth $103,570, so most people doing this work in Pennsylvania sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $66,131 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Pennsylvania's own levy, $64,477 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $86,130. 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 ($68,370 to $103,570) 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 $66,131 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 $64,477 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.