Nursing Assistants in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$36,639
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$7,951
17.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$37,579
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
$44,590
Kept after tax
$36,639
Worth in national money
$37,579
State rank
22
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Pennsylvania pays nursing assistants around $44,590 at the midpoint, 22 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 492 occupations Pennsylvania publishes, nursing assistants lands at 384. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $44,590, tax leaves $36,639, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $37,579 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $43,960.
- For nursing assistants the Pennsylvania median is $44,590, ranking 22 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.
- Within Pennsylvania, this work ranks 384 of 492 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for nursing assistants — median $44,590 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $36,639 retained, $37,579 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $43,960 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Nursing Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $37,760 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $44,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,360 |
| This salary | $44,590 |
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 | $36,639 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,008 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,534 |
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 | $42,886 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,856 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $44,590 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $37,760 and the ninetieth is $49,360 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $36,639, from $44,590, 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 384 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $37,579 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 384.
- The Pennsylvania median of $44,590 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $37,760 to $49,360. 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 $36,639 from $44,590. 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 384 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $37,579, worked from $44,590, 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 384 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $37,760 and the top tenth $49,360, 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 $37,579 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 $36,639.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like one.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($37,760 to $49,360) 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 $37,579 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 $36,639 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.