Millwrights in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,956
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$12,454
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$53,288
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
$64,410
Kept after tax
$51,956
Worth in national money
$53,288
State rank
25
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for millwrights. The median is $64,410, ranking 25 of 48 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Pennsylvania, this sits in the middle: 195 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $64,410 the take-home is $51,956, which is worth about $53,288 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $70,990, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for millwrights: a median of $64,410, ranking 25 of 48. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Millwrights ranks 195 of 492 occupations in Pennsylvania by median pay, in the middle bands. Within-state and national positions are separate measurements and a job commonly sits in different quartiles on each.
- Pennsylvania's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for millwrights on its $64,410 median: $51,956 retained after tax becomes $53,288 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $70,990 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Millwrights
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,740 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $64,410 |
| Top tenth earn over | $101,760 |
| This salary | $64,410 |
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 | $51,956 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,933 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,213 |
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 | $61,949 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,677 |
| 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 $64,410. The published range is $48,740 up to $101,760, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $51,956 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $64,410. 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 195 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $53,288, the adjusted value of that $64,410 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 195 of 492 in the state.
- Reported values are medians; for millwrights in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $48,740 to $101,760. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $51,956, from $64,410, 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 195 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 25 of 48 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $53,288 — the adjusted value of that $64,410 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 195 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $70,990, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $48,740, the highest tenth $101,760, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
A smaller wage in a cheaper place is not automatically less. Adjusted for local prices, this is worth $53,288.
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 $51,956 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $70,990. 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 ($48,740) and the ninetieth ($101,760) 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 $53,288 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 $51,956 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.