Opticians, Dispensing in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$37,304
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$8,146
17.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$38,260
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
$45,450
Kept after tax
$37,304
Worth in national money
$38,260
State rank
29
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Pennsylvania pays opticians, dispensing around $45,450 at the midpoint, 29 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 492 occupations Pennsylvania publishes, opticians, dispensing lands at 372. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- No great distortion either way. Pennsylvania costs about what the country costs, so from $45,450, take-home of $37,304 is worth roughly $38,260 in national money. The average comes to $46,330, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For opticians, dispensing the Pennsylvania median is $45,450, ranking 29 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 372 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.
- Price parity in Pennsylvania is near the national base, so for opticians, dispensing, whose median is $45,450, the adjusted figure of $38,260 differs little from $37,304 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $46,330 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Opticians, Dispensing
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $45,450 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,450 |
| This salary | $45,450 |
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 | $37,304 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $38,699 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,564 |
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 | $43,713 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,891 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $45,450 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,160 and the ninetieth is $58,450 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $37,304 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $45,450. 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 372 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $38,260 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 372.
- The Pennsylvania median of $45,450 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,160 to $58,450. 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 $37,304, from $45,450, 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 372 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 29 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $38,260, worked from $45,450, 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 372 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,160 and the top tenth $58,450, so most people doing this work in Pennsylvania sit within a fairly tight band.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Pennsylvania sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $38,260 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $37,304 of this wage survives to your account.
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 ($36,160 to $58,450) 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 $38,260 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 $37,304 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.