Dishwashers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$25,325
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$4,625
15.4% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$25,975
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
$29,950
Kept after tax
$25,325
Worth in national money
$25,975
State rank
32
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for dishwashers. The median is $29,950, ranking 32 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Pennsylvania, this one sits low: 479 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $29,950, tax leaves $25,325, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $25,975 in comparable terms. Average and middle land in the same place, $29,950.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for dishwashers: a median of $29,950, ranking 32 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Dishwashers occupies position 479 of 492 in Pennsylvania's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for dishwashers — median $29,950 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $25,325 retained, $25,975 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. The mean equals the median at $29,950 — no skew either way in the published band.
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: Dishwashers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $21,550 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,950 |
| Top tenth earn over | $37,110 |
| This salary | $29,950 |
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 | $25,325 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $26,245 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,033 |
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 | $28,806 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,249 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $29,950 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $21,550 and the ninetieth is $37,110 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $25,325 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $29,950. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 479 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $25,975 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 479.
- The Pennsylvania median of $29,950 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $21,550 to $37,110. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $25,325, from $29,950, assumes a single Pennsylvania filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 479 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 32 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $25,975, worked from $29,950, 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 479 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $21,550 at the bottom tenth to $37,110 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $25,975 in national terms.
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, $25,325 remains.
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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($21,550 to $37,110) 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 $25,975 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 $25,325 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.