Fast Food and Counter Workers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$24,259
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$4,311
15.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$24,881
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
$28,570
Kept after tax
$24,259
Worth in national money
$24,881
State rank
36
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for fast food and counter workers is on the low side in Pennsylvania. The middle earner gets $28,570. That is 36 of 51 states, and about 8.43% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 492 occupations Pennsylvania publishes, fast food and counter workers lands at 487. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $28,570, tax leaves $24,259, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $24,881 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $28,930, since top earners drag the number up.
- For fast food and counter workers, Pennsylvania sits in the lower band at $28,570, ranking 36 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 8.43%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Pennsylvania, this work ranks 487 of 492 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for fast food and counter workers — median $28,570 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $24,259 retained, $24,881 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $28,930 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Fast Food and Counter Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $28,570 |
| Top tenth earn over | $35,880 |
| This salary | $28,570 |
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 | $24,259 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,136 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$986 |
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 | $27,503 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,165 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $28,570 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $22,030 and the ninetieth is $35,880 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $24,259, from $28,570, 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 487 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 $24,881, the adjusted value of that $28,570 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 487 of 492 in the state.
- The Pennsylvania median of $28,570 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $22,030 to $35,880. 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 $24,259 from $28,570. 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 487 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $24,881 — the adjusted value of that $28,570 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 487 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $22,030 and the top tenth $35,880, so most people doing this work in Pennsylvania sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $24,881.
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, $24,259 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($22,030 to $35,880) 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 $24,881 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 $24,259 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.