Firefighters in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$58,254
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$15,206
20.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,748
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
$73,460
Kept after tax
$58,254
Worth in national money
$59,748
State rank
10
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania is one of the better-paying states for firefighters. The middle earner takes $73,460, which ranks 10 of 50 states with published figures. That is about 23.92% above the national middle.
- Against other work in Pennsylvania, this sits in the middle: 159 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $73,460 the take-home is $58,254, which is worth about $59,748 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $71,340, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Pennsylvania ranks 10 of 50 states publishing a median for firefighters, at $73,460 — about 23.92% above the national median. A state's position on nominal pay is the figure wage tables report and the least informative of the three on this page, because it survives neither the tax adjustment nor the price adjustment intact for most occupations.
- Firefighters ranks 159 of 492 occupations in Pennsylvania by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Pennsylvania's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for firefighters on its $73,460 median: $58,254 retained after tax becomes $59,748 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $71,340 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
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: Firefighters
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,620 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $73,460 |
| Top tenth earn over | $89,190 |
| This salary | $73,460 |
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 | $58,254 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,509 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,521 |
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 | $70,254 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,482 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $73,460 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $48,620 and the ninetieth is $89,190 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $58,254, from $73,460, 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 159 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $59,748 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 159.
- The Pennsylvania median of $73,460 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $48,620 to $89,190. 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 $58,254 from $73,460. 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 159 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $59,748, worked from $73,460, 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 159 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $48,620 at the bottom tenth to $89,190 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 $59,748.
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 $58,254 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 50 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($48,620 to $89,190) 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 $59,748 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 $58,254 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.