Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$23,483
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$4,107
14.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$24,085
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
$27,590
Kept after tax
$23,483
Worth in national money
$24,085
State rank
43
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Pennsylvania pays this job a middle wage of $27,590, 43 of 46 states and about 33.68% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Within Pennsylvania this is lower-paid work. Of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, this job ranks 491. 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 $27,590, take-home of $23,483 is worth roughly $24,085 in national money. The average comes to $34,100, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Pennsylvania's $27,590 median for personal care and service workers, all other places it 43 of 46 states, about 33.68% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- Against every occupation Pennsylvania reports, personal care and service workers, all other ranks 491 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 personal care and service workers, all other, whose median is $27,590, the adjusted figure of $24,085 differs little from $23,483 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $34,100 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
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Pay band: Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $22,170 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $27,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $55,360 |
| This salary | $27,590 |
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 | $23,483 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $24,330 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$952 |
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 | $26,561 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,124 |
| 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 personal care and service workers, all other in Pennsylvania earn under $27,590 and half over. The published range runs $22,170 at the tenth percentile to $55,360 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $23,483 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $27,590. 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 491 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $24,085, the adjusted value of that $27,590 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 491 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for personal care and service workers, all other in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $22,170 to $55,360; 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 $23,483, from $27,590, 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 491 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 43 of 46 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $24,085 — the adjusted value of that $27,590 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 491 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $34,100, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $22,170 at the bottom tenth to $55,360 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $24,085 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $23,483.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
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 $34,100. 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 ($22,170) and the ninetieth ($55,360) 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 $24,085 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 $23,483 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.