Food Batchmakers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,030
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$6,890
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,877
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
$39,920
Kept after tax
$33,030
Worth in national money
$33,877
State rank
25
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for food batchmakers. The median is $39,920, ranking 25 of 50 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: 416 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $39,920 the take-home is $33,030, which is worth about $33,877 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $42,990, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for food batchmakers: a median of $39,920, ranking 25 of 50. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Food batchmakers occupies position 416 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.
- Pennsylvania's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for food batchmakers on its $39,920 median: $33,030 retained after tax becomes $33,877 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $42,990 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Food Batchmakers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,370 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $39,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $59,310 |
| This salary | $39,920 |
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 | $33,030 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,256 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,374 |
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 | $38,395 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,662 |
| 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 $39,920. The published range is $31,370 up to $59,310, 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 $33,030, worked from $39,920. 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 416 of 492.
- Two cautions on $33,877, the adjusted value of that $39,920 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 416 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for food batchmakers in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $31,370 to $59,310. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $33,030, on $39,920 for work ranking 416 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 416 of 492 in the state.
- This $33,877 adjusted figure, worked from $39,920, 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 416 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 416 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 $42,990, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $31,370 at the tenth percentile, $59,310 at the ninetieth.
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 $33,877 in national terms.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Pennsylvania then takes its own share, leaving $33,030.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 50 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $42,990. 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 ($31,370 to $59,310) 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 $33,877 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 $33,030 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.