Registered Nurses in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$73,708
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$22,722
23.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$75,598
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
$96,430
Kept after tax
$73,708
Worth in national money
$75,598
State rank
20
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Pennsylvania pays registered nurses around $96,430 at the midpoint, 20 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 492 occupations Pennsylvania reports, registered nurses comes in at 77 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $96,430, tax leaves $73,708, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $75,598 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $94,020.
- For registered nurses the Pennsylvania median is $96,430, ranking 20 of 51 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.
- Registered nurses ranks 77 of 492 occupations by median in Pennsylvania, in the top quartile. Within-state position is largely independent of national position, so this holds regardless of how the state compares to others for the same work.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for registered nurses — median $96,430 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $73,708 retained, $75,598 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $94,020 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Registered Nurses
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $70,800 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $96,430 |
| Top tenth earn over | $117,900 |
| This salary | $96,430 |
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 | $73,708 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $76,669 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,299 |
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 | $92,222 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,557 |
| 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 registered nurses in Pennsylvania earn under $96,430 and half over. The published range runs $70,800 at the tenth percentile to $117,900 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 $73,708, worked from $96,430. 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 77 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $75,598 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 77.
- Figures are distribution medians for registered nurses in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $70,800 to $117,900; 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 $73,708, on $96,430 for work ranking 77 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 77 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $75,598, worked from $96,430, 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 77 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $70,800 at the tenth percentile, $117,900 at the ninetieth.
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 $75,598 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 $73,708 of this wage survives to your account.
Can I compare this job across every state?
This occupation is published everywhere — all 51 of them — so comparing states measures real differences rather than gaps in the data.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($70,800 to $117,900) 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 $75,598 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 $73,708 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.