Pharmacy Technicians in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,123
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$6,917
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$33,972
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
$40,040
Kept after tax
$33,123
Worth in national money
$33,972
State rank
45
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for pharmacy technicians is on the low side in Pennsylvania. The middle earner gets $40,040. That is 45 of 51 states, and about 12.48% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Against 492 occupations Pennsylvania publishes, pharmacy technicians lands at 414. 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 $40,040, take-home of $33,123 is worth roughly $33,972 in national money. The average comes to $42,300, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For pharmacy technicians, Pennsylvania sits in the lower band at $40,040, ranking 45 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 12.48%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- Within Pennsylvania, this work ranks 414 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 pharmacy technicians, whose median is $40,040, the adjusted figure of $33,972 differs little from $33,123 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $42,300 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: Pharmacy Technicians
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $35,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,040 |
| Top tenth earn over | $51,290 |
| This salary | $40,040 |
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 | $33,123 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,352 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,379 |
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 | $38,510 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,667 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $40,040 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $35,140 and the ninetieth is $51,290 — 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 $33,123, worked from $40,040. 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 414 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $33,972, the adjusted value of that $40,040 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 414 of 492 in the state.
- The Pennsylvania median of $40,040 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $35,140 to $51,290. 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 $33,123, on $40,040 for work ranking 414 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 414 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $33,972 — the adjusted value of that $40,040 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 414 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $42,300 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $35,140 at the bottom tenth to $51,290 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Pennsylvania is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $33,972 in national terms.
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 $33,123.
Can I compare this job across every state?
All 51 jurisdictions report this work, which makes the ranking a like-for-like 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 $42,300. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($35,140 to $51,290) 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 $33,972 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 $33,123 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.