Sheet Metal Workers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$49,630
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$11,770
19.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$50,902
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
$61,400
Kept after tax
$49,630
Worth in national money
$50,902
State rank
29
of 50 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Neither high nor low. Pennsylvania is 29 of 50 states for sheet metal workers, with a middle wage of $61,400. What that is worth is the question the rest of this page answers.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. Sheet metal workers ranks 223 among 492 occupations Pennsylvania publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Pennsylvania costs about what the country costs, so from $61,400, take-home of $49,630 is worth roughly $50,902 in national money. The average comes to $72,910, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- Pennsylvania ranks 29 of 50 for sheet metal workers at $61,400. The nominal figure is unremarkable; the adjusted figures are where the state's actual position for this occupation is determined.
- Position 223 of 492 in Pennsylvania places sheet metal workers 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.
- Price parity in Pennsylvania is near the national base, so for sheet metal workers, whose median is $61,400, the adjusted figure of $50,902 differs little from $49,630 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $72,910 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Sheet Metal Workers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $45,660 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $61,400 |
| Top tenth earn over | $126,430 |
| This salary | $61,400 |
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 | $49,630 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $51,515 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,110 |
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 | $59,054 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,552 |
| 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 $61,400. The published range is $45,660 up to $126,430, 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 $49,630, worked from $61,400. 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 223 of 492.
- Two cautions on $50,902, the adjusted value of that $61,400 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 223 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for sheet metal workers in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $45,660 to $126,430. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $49,630, on $61,400 for work ranking 223 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 223 of 492 in the state.
- This $50,902 adjusted figure, worked from $61,400, 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 223 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 223 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
Half earn more than this and half earn less. The average sits at $72,910 because a long tail of high pay lifts it, so the two answer different questions.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $45,660 and the top tenth $126,430 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $50,902.
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 $49,630 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 50 states here, and a missing state means too few reports, not no jobs.
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 $72,910. 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 ($45,660) and the ninetieth ($126,430) 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 $50,902 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 $49,630 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.