Recreational Therapists in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$47,729
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$11,211
19.0% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$48,953
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
$58,940
Kept after tax
$47,729
Worth in national money
$48,953
State rank
24
of 48 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for recreational therapists. The median is $58,940, ranking 24 of 48 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Recreational therapists ranks 243 among 492 occupations Pennsylvania publishes pay for.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $58,940 the take-home is $47,729, which is worth about $48,953 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $59,450, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for recreational therapists: a median of $58,940, ranking 24 of 48. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Position 243 of 492 in Pennsylvania places recreational therapists in the middle of the state's wage distribution. Because within-state and cross-state rankings measure different things, this figure and the national one above should be read together rather than as a single verdict.
- Pennsylvania's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for recreational therapists on its $58,940 median: $47,729 retained after tax becomes $48,953 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $59,450 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Recreational Therapists
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $39,690 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $58,940 |
| Top tenth earn over | $80,340 |
| This salary | $58,940 |
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 | $47,729 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $49,538 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,026 |
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 | $56,688 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,450 |
| 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 recreational therapists in Pennsylvania earn under $58,940 and half over. The published range runs $39,690 at the tenth percentile to $80,340 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Pennsylvania's $47,729, worked from $58,940. 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 243 of 492.
- Two cautions on $48,953, the adjusted value of that $58,940 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 243 of 492 locally.
- Figures are distribution medians for recreational therapists in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $39,690 to $80,340; 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.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $47,729, on $58,940 for work ranking 243 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 243 of 492 in the state.
- This $48,953 adjusted figure, worked from $58,940, 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 243 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 243 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
The range here is narrow. From $39,690 at the bottom tenth to $80,340 at the top, pay for this work clusters rather than spreads.
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 $48,953 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 $47,729 of this wage survives to your account.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 48 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($39,690 to $80,340) 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 $48,953 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 $47,729 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 48 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.