Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$24,723
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$4,447
15.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$25,356
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
$29,170
Kept after tax
$24,723
Worth in national money
$25,356
State rank
26
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Pennsylvania pays this job around $29,170 at the midpoint, 26 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 492 occupations Pennsylvania publishes, this job lands at 484. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $29,170, tax leaves $24,723, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $25,356 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $30,020, since top earners drag the number up.
- For hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop the Pennsylvania median is $29,170, ranking 26 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Pennsylvania, this work ranks 484 of 492 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop — median $29,170 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $24,723 retained, $25,356 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $30,020 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $20,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $29,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $41,380 |
| This salary | $29,170 |
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 | $24,723 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $25,618 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,006 |
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 | $28,066 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,204 |
| 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 $29,170. The published range is $20,800 up to $41,380, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Pennsylvania's $24,723, worked from $29,170. 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 484 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $25,356, the adjusted value of that $29,170 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 484 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $20,800 to $41,380. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $24,723, on $29,170 for work ranking 484 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 484 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $25,356 — the adjusted value of that $29,170 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 484 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $20,800 at the bottom tenth to $41,380 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $25,356.
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, $24,723 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.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($20,800 to $41,380) 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 $25,356 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 $24,723 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.