Office and Administrative Support Workers, All Other in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,406
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$8,764
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,416
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
$48,170
Kept after tax
$39,406
Worth in national money
$40,416
State rank
26
of 49 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $48,170, ranking 26 of 49 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Pennsylvania reports figures for, this is number 334.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $48,170 the take-home is $39,406, which is worth about $40,416 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $50,840, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for office and administrative support workers, all other: a median of $48,170, ranking 26 of 49. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- In Pennsylvania's occupational distribution, office and administrative support workers, all other sits at 334 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Pennsylvania's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for office and administrative support workers, all other on its $48,170 median: $39,406 retained after tax becomes $40,416 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $50,840 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
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Pay band: Office and Administrative Support Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $29,640 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,170 |
| Top tenth earn over | $71,970 |
| This salary | $48,170 |
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 | $39,406 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $40,885 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,657 |
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 | $46,330 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,004 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $48,170 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $29,640 and the ninetieth is $71,970 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $39,406 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $48,170. 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 334 of 492.
- Two cautions on $40,416, the adjusted value of that $48,170 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 334 of 492 locally.
- The Pennsylvania median of $48,170 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $29,640 to $71,970. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $39,406, from $48,170, 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 334 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 26 of 49 for it.
- This $40,416 adjusted figure, worked from $48,170, 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 334 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 334 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $50,840, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $29,640 at the bottom tenth to $71,970 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $40,416.
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 $39,406 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 49 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $50,840. 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 ($29,640) and the ninetieth ($71,970) 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 $40,416 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 $39,406 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 49 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.