Occupational Therapists in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$75,060
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$23,380
23.8% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$76,985
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
$98,440
Kept after tax
$75,060
Worth in national money
$76,985
State rank
28
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Pennsylvania pays occupational therapists around $98,440 at the midpoint, 28 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Pennsylvania this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, occupational therapists ranks 65 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $98,440, tax leaves $75,060, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $76,985 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $98,460, since top earners drag the number up.
- For occupational therapists the Pennsylvania median is $98,440, ranking 28 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.
- Ranked against every occupation Pennsylvania publishes a median for, occupational therapists sits 65 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.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for occupational therapists — median $98,440 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $75,060 retained, $76,985 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $98,460 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Occupational Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $69,120 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $98,440 |
| Top tenth earn over | $128,790 |
| This salary | $98,440 |
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 | $75,060 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,083 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,367 |
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 | $94,144 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,651 |
| 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 occupational therapists in Pennsylvania earn under $98,440 and half over. The published range runs $69,120 at the tenth percentile to $128,790 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $75,060 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $98,440. 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 65 of 492.
- Two cautions on $76,985, the adjusted value of that $98,440 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 65 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for occupational therapists in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $69,120 to $128,790; 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 $75,060, from $98,440, 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 65 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 28 of 51 for it.
- This $76,985 adjusted figure, worked from $98,440, 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 65 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 65 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $69,120 at the bottom tenth to $128,790 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $76,985.
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 $75,060 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 ($69,120 to $128,790) 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 $76,985 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 $75,060 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.