Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$24,916
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$4,504
15.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$25,555
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
$29,420
Kept after tax
$24,916
Worth in national money
$25,555
State rank
42
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania is among the lower-paying states for home health and personal care aides. The middle earner takes $29,420, ranking 42 of 51 states — about 17.82% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Measured against other jobs in Pennsylvania, this one sits low: 481 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $29,420, tax leaves $24,916, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $25,555 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $31,460, since top earners drag the number up.
- Pennsylvania ranks 42 of 51 for home health and personal care aides, with a median of $29,420 — about 17.82% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Home health and personal care aides occupies position 481 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.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for home health and personal care aides — median $29,420 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $24,916 retained, $25,555 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $31,460 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Home Health and Personal Care Aides
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,510 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,420 |
| Top tenth earn over | $37,960 |
| This salary | $29,420 |
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 | $24,916 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,819 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,015 |
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 | $28,301 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,220 |
| 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 home health and personal care aides in Pennsylvania earn under $29,420 and half over. The published range runs $26,510 at the tenth percentile to $37,960 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $24,916, from $29,420, 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 481 of 492 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $25,555, the adjusted value of that $29,420 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 481 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for home health and personal care aides in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $26,510 to $37,960; 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.
- Take-home for Pennsylvania is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $24,916 from $29,420. 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 481 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $25,555 — the adjusted value of that $29,420 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 481 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 $31,460, 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 — $26,510 at the tenth percentile, $37,960 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 $25,555 in national terms.
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, $24,916 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
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 $31,460. 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 ($26,510 to $37,960) 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 $25,555 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 $24,916 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.