Physical Therapist Assistants in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$50,542
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$12,038
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$51,838
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
$62,580
Kept after tax
$50,542
Worth in national money
$51,838
State rank
38
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for physical therapist assistants is on the low side in Pennsylvania. The middle earner gets $62,580. That is 38 of 51 states, and about 8.48% under the national figure. Whether that matters depends on what things cost here.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Pennsylvania reports figures for, this is number 213.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $62,580, tax leaves $50,542, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $51,838 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $63,820, since top earners drag the number up.
- For physical therapist assistants, Pennsylvania sits in the lower band at $62,580, ranking 38 of 51 and trailing the national median by about 8.48%. Nominal rankings routinely invert once tax and regional price level are applied, so this position should not be read as the conclusion.
- In Pennsylvania's occupational distribution, physical therapist assistants sits at 213 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for physical therapist assistants — median $62,580 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $50,542 retained, $51,838 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $63,820 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Physical Therapist Assistants
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $49,610 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $62,580 |
| Top tenth earn over | $78,010 |
| This salary | $62,580 |
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 | $50,542 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $52,463 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,150 |
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 | $60,189 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,601 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $62,580 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $49,610 and the ninetieth is $78,010 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $50,542 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $62,580. 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 213 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $51,838 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 213.
- The Pennsylvania median of $62,580 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $49,610 to $78,010. 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 $50,542, from $62,580, 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 213 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 38 of 51 for it.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $51,838, worked from $62,580, 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 213 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $49,610 and the top tenth $78,010, 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 $51,838.
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 $50,542.
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 ($49,610 to $78,010) 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 $51,838 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 $50,542 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.