Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$81,439
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$26,481
24.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$83,527
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
$107,920
Kept after tax
$81,439
Worth in national money
$83,527
State rank
17
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Pennsylvania is 17 of 50 states for this job, with a middle wage of $107,920. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Within Pennsylvania this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, this job ranks 37 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $107,920 the take-home is $81,439, which is worth about $83,527 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $136,680, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Pennsylvania ranks 17 of 50 for health specialties teachers, postsecondary at $107,920. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Ranked against every occupation Pennsylvania publishes a median for, health specialties teachers, postsecondary sits 37 of 492 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Pennsylvania's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for health specialties teachers, postsecondary on its $107,920 median: $81,439 retained after tax becomes $83,527 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $136,680 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Health Specialties Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,300 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $107,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $244,880 |
| This salary | $107,920 |
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 | $81,439 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $84,752 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,689 |
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 | $103,210 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$5,095 |
| 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 health specialties teachers, postsecondary in Pennsylvania earn under $107,920 and half over. The published range runs $49,300 at the tenth percentile to $244,880 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 $81,439, worked from $107,920. 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 37 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $83,527 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 37.
- Figures are distribution medians for health specialties teachers, postsecondary in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $49,300 to $244,880; 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 $81,439, on $107,920 for work ranking 37 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 37 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $83,527, worked from $107,920, 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 37 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 $136,680, 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 $49,300 and the top tenth $244,880 — 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 $83,527 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 $81,439.
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.
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 $136,680. 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 ($49,300) and the ninetieth ($244,880) 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 $83,527 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 $81,439 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.