Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,066
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$8,664
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,067
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
$47,730
Kept after tax
$39,066
Worth in national money
$40,067
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Pennsylvania is 21 of 51 states for this job, with a middle wage of $47,730. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Against other work in Pennsylvania, this sits in the middle: 341 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- No great distortion either way. Pennsylvania costs about what the country costs, so from $47,730, take-home of $39,066 is worth roughly $40,067 in national money. The average comes to $49,760, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Pennsylvania ranks 21 of 51 for industrial truck and tractor operators at $47,730. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Industrial truck and tractor operators ranks 341 of 492 occupations in Pennsylvania by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Price parity in Pennsylvania is near the national base, so for industrial truck and tractor operators, whose median is $47,730, the adjusted figure of $40,067 differs little from $39,066 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $49,760 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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: Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $38,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $47,730 |
| Top tenth earn over | $62,510 |
| This salary | $47,730 |
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 | $39,066 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,531 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,642 |
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 | $45,906 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,986 |
| 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 $47,730. The published range is $38,160 up to $62,510, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $39,066 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $47,730. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 341 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $40,067, the adjusted value of that $47,730 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 341 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for industrial truck and tractor operators in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $38,160 to $62,510. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $39,066, from $47,730, assumes a single Pennsylvania filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 341 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 21 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $40,067 — the adjusted value of that $47,730 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 341 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $49,760, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $38,160 and the top tenth $62,510, so most people doing this work in Pennsylvania sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $40,067 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 $39,066.
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 $49,760. 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 ($38,160 to $62,510) 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 $40,067 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 $39,066 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.