Forest and Conservation Technicians in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,516
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$10,854
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$47,708
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
$57,370
Kept after tax
$46,516
Worth in national money
$47,708
State rank
10
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania is one of the better-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $57,370, which ranks 10 of 45 states with published figures. That is about 5.15% above the national middle.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Pennsylvania reports figures for, this is number 264.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $57,370, tax leaves $46,516, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $47,708 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $59,770, since top earners drag the number up.
- Pennsylvania ranks 10 of 45 states publishing a median for forest and conservation technicians, at $57,370 — about 5.15% 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.
- In Pennsylvania's occupational distribution, forest and conservation technicians sits at 264 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for forest and conservation technicians — median $57,370 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $46,516 retained, $47,708 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $59,770 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Forest and Conservation Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $44,950 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $76,940 |
| This salary | $57,370 |
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 | $46,516 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,277 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,972 |
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 | $55,178 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,385 |
| 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 $57,370. The published range is $44,950 up to $76,940, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $46,516, from $57,370, 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 264 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 $47,708 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 264.
- Reported values are medians; for forest and conservation technicians in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $44,950 to $76,940. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Pennsylvania is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $46,516 from $57,370. 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 264 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $47,708, worked from $57,370, 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 264 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 $59,770, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $44,950 at the bottom tenth to $76,940 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Pennsylvania sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $47,708 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $46,516 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $59,770. 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 ($44,950 to $76,940) 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 $47,708 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 $46,516 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.