Order Clerks in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$38,378
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$8,462
18.1% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$39,362
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
$46,840
Kept after tax
$38,378
Worth in national money
$39,362
State rank
20
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for order clerks. The median is $46,840, ranking 20 of 48 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Against other work in Pennsylvania, this sits in the middle: 356 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 $46,840, tax leaves $38,378, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $39,362 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $47,390, since top earners drag the number up.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for order clerks: a median of $46,840, ranking 20 of 48. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Order clerks ranks 356 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 order clerks — median $46,840 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $38,378 retained, $39,362 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $47,390 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Order Clerks
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,030 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $46,840 |
| Top tenth earn over | $58,910 |
| This salary | $46,840 |
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 | $38,378 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $39,816 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,611 |
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 | $45,050 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,949 |
| 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 order clerks in Pennsylvania earn under $46,840 and half over. The published range runs $36,030 at the tenth percentile to $58,910 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $38,378 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $46,840. 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 356 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $39,362 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 356.
- Figures are distribution medians for order clerks in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $36,030 to $58,910; 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 $38,378, from $46,840, 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 356 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 20 of 48 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $39,362, worked from $46,840, 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 356 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $36,030 at the tenth percentile, $58,910 at the ninetieth.
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 $39,362.
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 $38,378.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,030 to $58,910) 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 $39,362 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 $38,378 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.