Orderlies in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,200
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$6,940
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,051
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
$40,140
Kept after tax
$33,200
Worth in national money
$34,051
State rank
13
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for orderlies is strong here. Pennsylvania's middle earner gets $40,140, putting the state 13 of 47 — about 4.83% ahead of the national figure.
- Within Pennsylvania this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, orderlies ranks 413. That is the bottom quarter locally, whatever the national comparison says.
- No great distortion either way. Pennsylvania costs about what the country costs, so from $40,140, take-home of $33,200 is worth roughly $34,051 in national money. The average comes to $41,030, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For orderlies, Pennsylvania sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $40,140, ranking 13 of 47 and running about 4.83% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Against every occupation Pennsylvania reports, orderlies ranks 413 of 492, in the lowest quartile of the state's distribution. That position is set by the local labor market and is independent of how the state compares nationally for this work.
- Price parity in Pennsylvania is near the national base, so for orderlies, whose median is $40,140, the adjusted figure of $34,051 differs little from $33,200 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $41,030 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Orderlies
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $36,350 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,140 |
| Top tenth earn over | $45,450 |
| This salary | $40,140 |
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 | $33,200 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,432 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,382 |
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 | $38,606 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,671 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $40,140 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $36,350 and the ninetieth is $45,450 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Pennsylvania's $33,200, worked from $40,140. That is on purpose. It lets states be compared with each other, not with each other's family circumstances. Local city taxes are left out. Locally this work ranks 413 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,051, the adjusted value of that $40,140 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 413 of 492 in the state.
- The Pennsylvania median of $40,140 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $36,350 to $45,450. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $33,200, on $40,140 for work ranking 413 of 492 locally, models the simplest household deliberately: holding it constant is what makes the interstate comparison meaningful. It also means the absolute figure overstates liability for most real filers, and municipal income taxes are outside the model entirely. The occupation ranks 413 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $34,051 — the adjusted value of that $40,140 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 413 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $36,350 and the top tenth $45,450, so most people doing this work in Pennsylvania sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $34,051.
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 $33,200 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 47 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($36,350 to $45,450) 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 $34,051 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 $33,200 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.