Physics Teachers, Postsecondary in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$75,013
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$23,357
23.7% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$76,937
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
$98,370
Kept after tax
$75,013
Worth in national money
$76,937
State rank
25
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Pennsylvania pays physics teachers, postsecondary around $98,370 at the midpoint, 25 of 47 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Within Pennsylvania this is well-paid work. Of 492 occupations with published figures in the state, physics teachers, postsecondary ranks 66 — in the top quarter of everything people do there.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $98,370, tax leaves $75,013, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $76,937 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $100,000, since top earners drag the number up.
- For physics teachers, postsecondary the Pennsylvania median is $98,370, ranking 25 of 47 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Ranked against every occupation Pennsylvania publishes a median for, physics teachers, postsecondary sits 66 of 492 — the upper quartile of the state's wage distribution. National standing and within-state standing are separate questions, and a job can occupy very different positions on each.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for physics teachers, postsecondary — median $98,370 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $75,013 retained, $76,937 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $100,000 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Physics Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $59,160 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $98,370 |
| Top tenth earn over | $134,610 |
| This salary | $98,370 |
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 | $75,013 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,033 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,365 |
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 | $94,077 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,648 |
| 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 physics teachers, postsecondary in Pennsylvania earn under $98,370 and half over. The published range runs $59,160 at the tenth percentile to $134,610 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $75,013, from $98,370, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 66 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $76,937 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 66.
- Figures are distribution medians for physics teachers, postsecondary in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $59,160 to $134,610; 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.
- Take-home for Pennsylvania is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $75,013 from $98,370. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 66 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $76,937, worked from $98,370, 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 66 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $59,160 and the top tenth $134,610 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $76,937 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Pennsylvania's own levy, $75,013 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 47 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($59,160) and the ninetieth ($134,610) 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 $76,937 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 $75,013 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.