Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,548
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$7,042
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,408
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
$40,590
Kept after tax
$33,548
Worth in national money
$34,408
State rank
26
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $40,590, ranking 26 of 46 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Measured against other jobs in Pennsylvania, this one sits low: 410 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $40,590 the take-home is $33,548, which is worth about $34,408 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $43,020, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood: a median of $40,590, ranking 26 of 46. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood occupies position 410 of 492 in Pennsylvania's occupational wage distribution, in the bottom quartile. National ranking and local ranking answer different questions and frequently disagree; this is the one a resident experiences.
- Pennsylvania's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood on its $40,590 median: $33,548 retained after tax becomes $34,408 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $43,020 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $31,210 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,590 |
| Top tenth earn over | $57,520 |
| This salary | $40,590 |
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 | $33,548 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,794 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,397 |
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 | $39,039 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,690 |
| 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 sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood in Pennsylvania earn under $40,590 and half over. The published range runs $31,210 at the tenth percentile to $57,520 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $33,548, from $40,590, 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 410 of 492 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $34,408, the adjusted value of that $40,590 median, as a way to compare states fairly, not as a quote for any particular place. The two datasets are also from different years. This job sits at 410 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for sawing machine setters, operators, and tenders, wood in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $31,210 to $57,520; 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 $33,548 from $40,590. 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 410 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $34,408 — the adjusted value of that $40,590 median — establishes comparability between states rather than accuracy within one. The wage and parity series are dated independently, each following its own publication cycle, and neither is projected forward. This occupation sits at 410 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 $43,020, pulled upward by the top of the range, which is why the middle is the fairer number to plan against.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $31,210 and the top tenth $57,520, 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 $34,408.
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, $33,548 remains.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 46 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $43,020. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($31,210 to $57,520) 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 $34,408 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 $33,548 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 46 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.