Mechanical Engineers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$74,711
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$23,209
23.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$76,626
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
$97,920
Kept after tax
$74,711
Worth in national money
$76,626
State rank
41
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania is among the lower-paying states for mechanical engineers. The middle earner takes $97,920, ranking 41 of 51 states — about 5.95% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Pennsylvania. It ranks 68 out of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $97,920, tax leaves $74,711, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $76,626 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $103,740, since top earners drag the number up.
- Pennsylvania ranks 41 of 51 for mechanical engineers, with a median of $97,920 — about 5.95% 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.
- Within Pennsylvania, mechanical engineers ranks 68 of 492 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for mechanical engineers — median $97,920 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $74,711 retained, $76,626 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $103,740 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mechanical Engineers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $65,770 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $97,920 |
| Top tenth earn over | $150,950 |
| This salary | $97,920 |
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 | $74,711 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $77,717 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,350 |
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 | $93,647 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,627 |
| 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 $97,920. The published range is $65,770 up to $150,950, 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 $74,711, worked from $97,920. 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 68 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $76,626 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 68.
- Reported values are medians; for mechanical engineers in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $65,770 to $150,950. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $74,711, on $97,920 for work ranking 68 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 68 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $76,626, worked from $97,920, 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 68 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 $103,740 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?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $65,770, the highest tenth $150,950, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $76,626 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, $74,711 remains.
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.
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 $103,740. 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 ($65,770) and the ninetieth ($150,950) 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 $76,626 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 $74,711 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.