Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$71,421
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$21,609
23.2% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$73,252
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
$93,030
Kept after tax
$71,421
Worth in national money
$73,252
State rank
31
of 46 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania is among the lower-paying states for this job. The middle earner takes $93,030, ranking 31 of 46 states — about 10.81% below the national middle. Costs here are often lower too, which the figures further down account for.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Pennsylvania. It ranks 86 out of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $93,030 the take-home is $71,421, which is worth about $73,252 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $93,710, because the best-paid pull it up.
- Pennsylvania ranks 31 of 46 for software quality assurance analysts and testers, with a median of $93,030 — about 10.81% below the national figure. A nominal shortfall is not by itself a real one: lower-paying states frequently carry lower tax and lower price levels, and the adjusted figures below are where that is settled rather than assumed.
- Within Pennsylvania, software quality assurance analysts and testers ranks 86 of 492 occupations by median pay, placing it in the top quartile of the local distribution. This is the comparison a resident actually makes — against neighbors rather than against the same job elsewhere.
- Pennsylvania's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for software quality assurance analysts and testers on its $93,030 median: $71,421 retained after tax becomes $73,252 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $93,710 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Software Quality Assurance Analysts and Testers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $58,970 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $93,030 |
| Top tenth earn over | $133,120 |
| This salary | $93,030 |
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 | $71,421 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $74,277 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,184 |
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 | $88,970 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,398 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $93,030 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $58,970 and the ninetieth is $133,120 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- One filer, no dependants, no pension contributions — that is the household behind Pennsylvania's $71,421, worked from $93,030. 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 86 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $73,252, the adjusted value of that $93,030 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 86 of 492 in the state.
- The Pennsylvania median of $93,030 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $58,970 to $133,120. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- The Pennsylvania take-home of $71,421, on $93,030 for work ranking 86 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 86 of 492 in the state.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $73,252 — the adjusted value of that $93,030 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 86 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $58,970, the highest tenth $133,120, and what separates them is experience, employer and what exactly the role does.
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 $73,252 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 $71,421.
Why is this job missing from some states?
A blank is a suppression, not a zero. 46 states have a published figure for this work; the others had too few responses to release one.
What drives the percentile dispersion in this occupation?
Dispersion between the tenth percentile ($58,970) and the ninetieth ($133,120) 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 $73,252 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 $71,421 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.