Materials Engineers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,785
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$23,245
23.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$76,702
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
$98,030
Kept after tax
$74,785
Worth in national money
$76,702
State rank
36
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania is among the lower-paying states for materials engineers. The middle earner takes $98,030, ranking 36 of 45 states — about 13.14% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- Within Pennsylvania this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, materials engineers ranks 67 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $98,030 the take-home is $74,785, which is worth about $76,702 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $106,560, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Pennsylvania ranks 36 of 45 for materials engineers, with a median of $98,030 — about 13.14% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Ranked against every occupation Pennsylvania publishes a median for, materials engineers sits 67 of 492 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Pennsylvania's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for materials engineers on its $98,030 median: $74,785 retained after tax becomes $76,702 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $106,560 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Materials Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $62,790 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $98,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $173,530 |
| This salary | $98,030 |
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 | $74,785 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,794 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,354 |
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 | $93,752 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,632 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $98,030 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $62,790 and the ninetieth is $173,530 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $74,785 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $98,030. 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 67 of 492.
- Two cautions on $76,702, the adjusted value of that $98,030 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 67 of 492 locally.
- The Pennsylvania median of $98,030 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $62,790 to $173,530. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $74,785, from $98,030, 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 67 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 36 of 45 for it.
- This $76,702 adjusted figure, worked from $98,030, 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 67 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 67 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 $106,560, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $62,790 at the bottom tenth to $173,530 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $76,702 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 $74,785 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 45 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release 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 $106,560. 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 ($62,790) and the ninetieth ($173,530) 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 $76,702 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 $74,785 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.