Manicurists and Pedicurists in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$23,800
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$4,190
15.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$24,411
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
$27,990
Kept after tax
$23,800
Worth in national money
$24,411
State rank
46
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Pennsylvania pays manicurists and pedicurists a middle wage of $27,990, 46 of 49 states and about 21.73% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Pennsylvania this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, manicurists and pedicurists ranks 490. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Pennsylvania costs about what the country costs, so from $27,990, take-home of $23,800 is worth roughly $24,411 in national money. The average comes to $29,550, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Pennsylvania's $27,990 median for manicurists and pedicurists places it 46 of 49 states, about 21.73% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Pennsylvania reports, manicurists and pedicurists ranks 490 of 492, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Pennsylvania is near the national base, so for manicurists and pedicurists, whose median is $27,990, the adjusted figure of $24,411 differs little from $23,800 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $29,550 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Manicurists and Pedicurists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $20,520 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $27,990 |
| Top tenth earn over | $43,890 |
| This salary | $27,990 |
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 | $23,800 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $24,660 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$966 |
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 | $26,947 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,140 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $27,990 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $20,520 and the ninetieth is $43,890 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $23,800, from $27,990, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 490 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $24,411, the adjusted value of that $27,990 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 490 of 492 locally.
- The Pennsylvania median of $27,990 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $20,520 to $43,890. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Pennsylvania is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $23,800 from $27,990. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 490 of 492 locally.
- This $24,411 adjusted figure, worked from $27,990, 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 490 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 490 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $29,550 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $20,520 and the top tenth $43,890 — 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 $24,411 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 $23,800.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $29,550. 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 ($20,520) and the ninetieth ($43,890) 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 $24,411 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 $23,800 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.
Why does this occupation lack published estimates in every state?
BLS suppresses estimates failing disclosure or reliability criteria. This occupation has published state-level estimates in 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.