Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$28,502
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$5,558
16.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$29,232
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
$34,060
Kept after tax
$28,502
Worth in national money
$29,232
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Pennsylvania pays laundry and dry-cleaning workers around $34,060 at the midpoint, 28 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 492 occupations Pennsylvania publishes, laundry and dry-cleaning workers lands at 466. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $34,060, tax leaves $28,502, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $29,232 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $33,770.
- For laundry and dry-cleaning workers the Pennsylvania median is $34,060, ranking 28 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 466 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 laundry and dry-cleaning workers — median $34,060 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $28,502 retained, $29,232 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $33,770 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $26,970 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $34,060 |
| Top tenth earn over | $41,880 |
| This salary | $34,060 |
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 | $28,502 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $29,547 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,174 |
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 | $32,759 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,420 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $34,060 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $26,970 and the ninetieth is $41,880 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Pennsylvania's $28,502, worked from $34,060. 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 466 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $29,232 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 466.
- The Pennsylvania median of $34,060 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $26,970 to $41,880. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $28,502, on $34,060 for work ranking 466 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 466 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $29,232, worked from $34,060, 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 466 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $26,970 and the top tenth $41,880, 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 $29,232 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, $28,502 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 ($26,970 to $41,880) 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 $29,232 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 $28,502 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.