Food Servers, Nonrestaurant in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$27,914
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$5,386
16.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$28,630
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
$33,300
Kept after tax
$27,914
Worth in national money
$28,630
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for food servers, nonrestaurant. The median is $33,300, ranking 28 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: 468 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $33,300 the take-home is $27,914, which is worth about $28,630 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $33,720, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for food servers, nonrestaurant: a median of $33,300, ranking 28 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.
- Food servers, nonrestaurant occupies position 468 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 servers, nonrestaurant on its $33,300 median: $27,914 retained after tax becomes $28,630 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $33,720 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,450 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $33,300 |
| Top tenth earn over | $42,980 |
| This salary | $33,300 |
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 | $27,914 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $28,937 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,148 |
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 | $32,028 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,388 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of food servers, nonrestaurant in Pennsylvania earn under $33,300 and half over. The published range runs $27,450 at the tenth percentile to $42,980 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Pennsylvania's $27,914, worked from $33,300. 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 468 of 492.
- Two cautions on $28,630, the adjusted value of that $33,300 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 468 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for food servers, nonrestaurant in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $27,450 to $42,980; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $27,914, on $33,300 for work ranking 468 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 468 of 492 in the state.
- This $28,630 adjusted figure, worked from $33,300, 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 468 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 468 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $27,450 at the bottom tenth to $42,980 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 $28,630 in national terms.
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 $27,914 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 ($27,450 to $42,980) 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 $28,630 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 $27,914 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.