Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$75,881
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$23,779
23.9% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$77,827
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
$99,660
Kept after tax
$75,881
Worth in national money
$77,827
State rank
8
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pay for this job is strong here. Pennsylvania's middle earner gets $99,660, putting the state 8 of 46 — about 18.23% ahead of the national figure.
- Locally, this pays well. Among 492 occupations Pennsylvania reports, this job comes in at 60 — comfortably in the upper quarter.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $99,660 the take-home is $75,881, which is worth about $77,827 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is lower, $97,760, so pay clusters nearer the top than usual.
- For sociology teachers, postsecondary, Pennsylvania sits in the upper band nationally: a median of $99,660, ranking 8 of 46 and running about 18.23% above the national midpoint. Nominal advantage of this size is usually, though not always, large enough to survive the state's own tax and price levels.
- Sociology teachers, postsecondary ranks 60 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.
- Pennsylvania's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for sociology teachers, postsecondary on its $99,660 median: $75,881 retained after tax becomes $77,827 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $97,760 falls below the median, a left skew that is uncommon in wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Sociology Teachers, Postsecondary
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,420 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $99,660 |
| Top tenth earn over | $132,230 |
| This salary | $99,660 |
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 | $75,881 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $78,941 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,409 |
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 | $95,311 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,709 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $99,660 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $48,420 and the ninetieth is $132,230 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- That $75,881 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $99,660. It is the no-frills case: single filer, standard deduction, nothing set aside before tax. Real circumstances almost always reduce the tax. City and school-district taxes are not counted at all. Locally the work ranks 60 of 492.
- Two cautions on $77,827, the adjusted value of that $99,660 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 60 of 492 locally.
- The Pennsylvania median of $99,660 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $48,420 to $132,230. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Retained pay of $75,881, from $99,660, assumes a single Pennsylvania filer with the standard deduction and no elective deferrals. Pre-tax retirement or HSA contributions, dependants and itemized deductions all reduce it further; local income taxes, excluded here, would increase it in the states that levy them. This occupation ranks 60 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 8 of 46 for it.
- This $77,827 adjusted figure, worked from $99,660, 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 60 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 60 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
The label is broader than the work. From $48,420 at the bottom tenth to $132,230 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 $77,827 in national terms.
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 $75,881.
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.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($48,420) and the ninetieth ($132,230) 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 $77,827 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 $75,881 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.