Hazardous Materials Removal Workers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,166
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$8,694
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,170
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
$47,860
Kept after tax
$39,166
Worth in national money
$40,170
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $47,860, ranking 29 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 339 among 492 occupations Pennsylvania publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $47,860 the take-home is $39,166, which is worth about $40,170 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $53,140, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for hazardous materials removal workers: a median of $47,860, ranking 29 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.
- Position 339 of 492 in Pennsylvania places hazardous materials removal workers in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Pennsylvania's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for hazardous materials removal workers on its $47,860 median: $39,166 retained after tax becomes $40,170 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $53,140 sits above the median, the right skew typical of 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: Hazardous Materials Removal Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,570 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,860 |
| Top tenth earn over | $72,800 |
| This salary | $47,860 |
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 | $39,166 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,636 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,646 |
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 | $46,031 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,991 |
| 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 hazardous materials removal workers in Pennsylvania earn under $47,860 and half over. The published range runs $37,570 at the tenth percentile to $72,800 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 $39,166, worked from $47,860. 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 339 of 492.
- Two cautions on $40,170, the adjusted value of that $47,860 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 339 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for hazardous materials removal workers in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $37,570 to $72,800; 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 $39,166, on $47,860 for work ranking 339 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 339 of 492 in the state.
- This $40,170 adjusted figure, worked from $47,860, 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 339 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 339 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 $53,140, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $37,570 and the top tenth $72,800 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $40,170 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 $39,166.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
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 $53,140. 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 drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($37,570) and the ninetieth ($72,800) exceeds the family median dispersion. SOC codes aggregate roles differing in seniority, industry and specialisation, and BLS does not disaggregate below the detailed occupation level, so within-title variance is not separable from the published series.
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 $40,170 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 $39,166 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.