Self-Enrichment Teachers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$34,437
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$7,303
17.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$35,320
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
$41,740
Kept after tax
$34,437
Worth in national money
$35,320
State rank
31
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for self-enrichment teachers. The median is $41,740, ranking 31 of 51 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: 405 of 492 occupations with published pay, in the bottom quarter.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $41,740, tax leaves $34,437, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $35,320 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $46,400, since top earners drag the number up.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for self-enrichment teachers: a median of $41,740, ranking 31 of 51. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Self-enrichment teachers occupies position 405 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.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for self-enrichment teachers — median $41,740 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $34,437 retained, $35,320 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $46,400 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Self-Enrichment Teachers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $27,940 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $41,740 |
| Top tenth earn over | $75,130 |
| This salary | $41,740 |
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 | $34,437 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $35,718 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,437 |
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 | $40,145 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,738 |
| 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 self-enrichment teachers in Pennsylvania earn under $41,740 and half over. The published range runs $27,940 at the tenth percentile to $75,130 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 $34,437, worked from $41,740. 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 405 of 492.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $35,320 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 405.
- Figures are distribution medians for self-enrichment teachers in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $27,940 to $75,130; 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 $34,437, on $41,740 for work ranking 405 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 405 of 492 in the state.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $35,320, worked from $41,740, 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 405 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $46,400, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $27,940 at the bottom tenth to $75,130 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
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 $35,320 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Four deductions, stacked. The federal layer and the two payroll taxes apply wherever you work; Pennsylvania then takes its own share, leaving $34,437.
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 $46,400. 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 ($27,940) and the ninetieth ($75,130) 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 $35,320 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 $34,437 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.