Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$51,539
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$12,331
19.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$52,860
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
$63,870
Kept after tax
$51,539
Worth in national money
$52,860
State rank
33
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Pennsylvania pays this job around $63,870 at the midpoint, 33 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against other work in Pennsylvania, this sits in the middle: 197 of 492 occupations with published pay. Solidly ordinary for the state, which is not the same as ordinary nationally.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $63,870, tax leaves $51,539, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $52,860 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $65,610, since top earners drag the number up.
- For mobile heavy equipment mechanics, except engines the Pennsylvania median is $63,870, ranking 33 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Mobile heavy equipment mechanics, except engines ranks 197 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.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for mobile heavy equipment mechanics, except engines — median $63,870 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $51,539 retained, $52,860 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $65,610 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Mobile Heavy Equipment Mechanics, Except Engines
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,000 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $63,870 |
| Top tenth earn over | $81,820 |
| This salary | $63,870 |
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 | $51,539 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $53,500 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,195 |
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 | $61,430 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,654 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of mobile heavy equipment mechanics, except engines in Pennsylvania earn under $63,870 and half over. The published range runs $48,000 at the tenth percentile to $81,820 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $51,539 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $63,870. 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 197 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $52,860, the adjusted value of that $63,870 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 197 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for mobile heavy equipment mechanics, except engines in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $48,000 to $81,820; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $51,539, from $63,870, 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 197 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 33 of 51 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $52,860 — the adjusted value of that $63,870 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 197 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $48,000 and the top tenth $81,820, so most people doing this work in Pennsylvania sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $52,860 in national terms.
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 $51,539 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 ($48,000 to $81,820) 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 $52,860 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 $51,539 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.