Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$88,698
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$30,012
25.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$90,972
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
$118,710
Kept after tax
$88,698
Worth in national money
$90,972
State rank
16
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Pennsylvania's middle earner gets $118,710, putting the state 16 of 51 — about 12.13% ahead of the national figure.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Pennsylvania. It ranks 29 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 $118,710, take-home of $88,698 is worth roughly $90,972 in national money. The average lands at $117,970, below the middle of the range.
- For education administrators, kindergarten through secondary, Pennsylvania sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $118,710, ranking 16 of 51 and running about 12.13% 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.
- Within Pennsylvania, education administrators, kindergarten through secondary ranks 29 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 education administrators, kindergarten through secondary, whose median is $118,710, the adjusted figure of $90,972 differs little from $88,698 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $117,970 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $78,490 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $118,710 |
| Top tenth earn over | $161,140 |
| This salary | $118,710 |
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 | $88,698 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $92,342 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$4,055 |
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 | $113,530 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,601 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $118,710 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $78,490 and the ninetieth is $161,140 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $88,698 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $118,710. 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 29 of 492.
- Two cautions on $90,972, the adjusted value of that $118,710 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 29 of 492 locally.
- The Pennsylvania median of $118,710 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $78,490 to $161,140. 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 $88,698, from $118,710, 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 29 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 16 of 51 for it.
- This $90,972 adjusted figure, worked from $118,710, 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 29 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 29 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $78,490 at the bottom tenth to $161,140 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $90,972.
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 $88,698 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($78,490 to $161,140) 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 $90,972 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 $88,698 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.