Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$39,576
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$8,814
18.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$40,591
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
$48,390
Kept after tax
$39,576
Worth in national money
$40,591
State rank
37
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- The nominal figure here is modest. Pennsylvania pays this job a middle wage of $48,390, 37 of 50 states and about 6.24% below the national middle. Hold that thought until the adjusted numbers.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Pennsylvania reports figures for, this is number 326.
- No great distortion either way. Pennsylvania costs about what the country costs, so from $48,390, take-home of $39,576 is worth roughly $40,591 in national money. The average comes to $50,210, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Pennsylvania's $48,390 median for separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders places it 37 of 50 states, about 6.24% below national. Because both the tax and price adjustments tend to favor lower-nominal states, this ranking is the least stable of the three reported here.
- In Pennsylvania's occupational distribution, separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders sits at 326 of 492 — neither quartile. This local position is what a resident compares against, and it is determined by the state's own labor market rather than by national patterns for this occupation.
- Price parity in Pennsylvania is near the national base, so for separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders, whose median is $48,390, the adjusted figure of $40,591 differs little from $39,576 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $50,210 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Separating, Filtering, Clarifying, Precipitating, and Still Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $32,130 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $48,390 |
| Top tenth earn over | $70,590 |
| This salary | $48,390 |
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 | $39,576 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $41,061 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,665 |
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 | $46,541 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,013 |
| 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 $48,390. The published range is $32,130 up to $70,590, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Pennsylvania's $39,576, worked from $48,390. 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 326 of 492.
- Two cautions on $40,591, the adjusted value of that $48,390 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 326 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for separating, filtering, clarifying, precipitating, and still machine setters, operators, and tenders in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $32,130 to $70,590. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $39,576, on $48,390 for work ranking 326 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 326 of 492 in the state.
- This $40,591 adjusted figure, worked from $48,390, 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 326 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 326 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 $50,210, 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?
The label is broader than the work. From $32,130 at the bottom tenth to $70,590 at the top, the same title covers roles that share little beyond a name.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
Further than the number implies. Pennsylvania is cheaper than the national average, so this take-home behaves like $40,591 in national terms.
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 $39,576 of this wage survives to your account.
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 50 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 $50,210. 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 ($32,130) and the ninetieth ($70,590) 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 $40,591 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 $39,576 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 50 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.