Light Truck Drivers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,276
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$7,844
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,206
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
$44,120
Kept after tax
$36,276
Worth in national money
$37,206
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Pennsylvania pays light truck drivers around $44,120 at the midpoint, 29 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 492 occupations Pennsylvania publishes, light truck drivers lands at 389. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- No great distortion either way. Pennsylvania costs about what the country costs, so from $44,120, take-home of $36,276 is worth roughly $37,206 in national money. The average comes to $47,870, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For light truck drivers the Pennsylvania median is $44,120, ranking 29 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 389 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.
- Price parity in Pennsylvania is near the national base, so for light truck drivers, whose median is $44,120, the adjusted figure of $37,206 differs little from $36,276 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $47,870 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Light Truck Drivers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,560 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,120 |
| Top tenth earn over | $82,170 |
| This salary | $44,120 |
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 | $36,276 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $37,630 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,518 |
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 | $42,434 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,836 |
| 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 $44,120. The published range is $27,560 up to $82,170, 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 $36,276, worked from $44,120. 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 389 of 492.
- Two cautions on $37,206, the adjusted value of that $44,120 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Pennsylvania. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 389 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for light truck drivers in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $27,560 to $82,170. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $36,276, on $44,120 for work ranking 389 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 389 of 492 in the state.
- This $37,206 adjusted figure, worked from $44,120, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 389 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 389 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 $47,870, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $27,560 and the top tenth $82,170 — 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 $37,206 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, $36,276 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 $47,870. 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 ($27,560) and the ninetieth ($82,170) 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 $37,206 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 $36,276 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.