Machinists in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$46,856
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$10,954
18.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,057
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
$57,810
Kept after tax
$46,856
Worth in national money
$48,057
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Pennsylvania is 33 of 51 states for machinists, with a middle wage of $57,810. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Machinists ranks 259 among 492 occupations Pennsylvania publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $57,810 the take-home is $46,856, which is worth about $48,057 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $57,080, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- Pennsylvania ranks 33 of 51 for machinists at $57,810. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 259 of 492 in Pennsylvania places machinists in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Pennsylvania's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for machinists on its $57,810 median: $46,856 retained after tax becomes $48,057 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $57,080 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Machinists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,620 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $57,810 |
| Top tenth earn over | $77,090 |
| This salary | $57,810 |
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 | $46,856 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $48,630 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,987 |
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 | $55,601 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,403 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $57,810 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $39,620 and the ninetieth is $77,090 — 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 $46,856, worked from $57,810. 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 259 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $48,057, the adjusted value of that $57,810 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 259 of 492 in the state.
- The Pennsylvania median of $57,810 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $39,620 to $77,090. 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 $46,856, on $57,810 for work ranking 259 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 259 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $48,057 — the adjusted value of that $57,810 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 259 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $39,620 and the top tenth $77,090, so most people doing this work in Pennsylvania sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Pennsylvania sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $48,057 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Into four separate taxes, not one. Federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare apply everywhere, and Pennsylvania adds its own income tax on top — which is why $46,856 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($39,620 to $77,090) 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 $48,057 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 $46,856 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.