Project Management Specialists in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$76,211
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$23,939
23.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$78,165
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
$100,150
Kept after tax
$76,211
Worth in national money
$78,165
State rank
21
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Pennsylvania is 21 of 51 states for project management specialists, with a middle wage of $100,150. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Pennsylvania. It ranks 58 out of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- No great distortion either way. Pennsylvania costs about what the country costs, so from $100,150, take-home of $76,211 is worth roughly $78,165 in national money. The average comes to $106,910, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Pennsylvania ranks 21 of 51 for project management specialists at $100,150. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Within Pennsylvania, project management specialists ranks 58 of 492 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Price parity in Pennsylvania is near the national base, so for project management specialists, whose median is $100,150, the adjusted figure of $78,165 differs little from $76,211 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $106,910 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: Project Management Specialists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $61,600 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $100,150 |
| Top tenth earn over | $160,560 |
| This salary | $100,150 |
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 | $76,211 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $79,286 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,425 |
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 | $95,780 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,732 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Half the people doing this work in Pennsylvania earn less than $100,150. The published range is $61,600 up to $160,560, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $76,211, from $100,150, 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 58 of 492 occupations here.
- Two cautions on $78,165, the adjusted value of that $100,150 median. It levels out prices with a single number for all of Pennsylvania. No actual address matches that. The wage figures and price figures are also from different years. Each is published on its own timetable. This work sits at 58 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for project management specialists in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $61,600 to $160,560. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Pennsylvania is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $76,211 from $100,150. 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 58 of 492 locally.
- This $78,165 adjusted figure, worked from $100,150, rests on a state-level price parity averaging over within-state dispersion larger than much of the between-state dispersion. Wage and price vintages differ by publication schedule. The result is directionally sound and not address-specific, for work at 58 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 58 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
No — it is the middle. Half of these workers earn more and half earn less. The average is $106,910, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $61,600, the highest tenth $160,560, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $78,165 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $76,211 of this wage survives to your account.
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 $106,910. 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 ($61,600) and the ninetieth ($160,560) 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 $78,165 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 $76,211 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.