Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$57,877
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$15,023
20.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$59,361
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
$72,900
Kept after tax
$57,877
Worth in national money
$59,361
State rank
23
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $72,900, ranking 23 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- Middle of the local pack. Of 492 occupations Pennsylvania reports figures for, this is number 161.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $72,900, tax leaves $57,877, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $59,361 in comparable terms. Here the average runs under the middle, at $70,990.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for stationary engineers and boiler operators: a median of $72,900, ranking 23 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.
- In Pennsylvania's occupational distribution, stationary engineers and boiler operators sits at 161 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.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for stationary engineers and boiler operators — median $72,900 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $57,877 retained, $59,361 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $70,990 sits under the median, so the lower tail is the longer one.
Compare this career across states
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Pay band: Stationary Engineers and Boiler Operators
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $48,140 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $72,900 |
| Top tenth earn over | $89,000 |
| This salary | $72,900 |
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 | $57,877 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $60,115 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,502 |
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 | $69,719 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$3,456 |
| 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 $72,900. The published range is $48,140 up to $89,000, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- That $57,877 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $72,900. 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 161 of 492.
- Two cautions on $59,361, the adjusted value of that $72,900 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 161 of 492 locally.
- Reported values are medians; for stationary engineers and boiler operators in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $48,140 to $89,000. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Retained pay of $57,877, from $72,900, 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 161 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 23 of 51 for it.
- This $59,361 adjusted figure, worked from $72,900, 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 161 of 492 in the state. The occupation ranks 161 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $48,140 and the top tenth $89,000, so most people doing this work in Pennsylvania sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $59,361.
Where does the difference between the wage and my paycheck go?
Three of them are federal and one is not. After income tax, Social Security, Medicare and Pennsylvania's own levy, $57,877 remains.
Can I compare this job across every state?
Yes for this one. Pay is published in all 51 jurisdictions, so a state-to-state comparison here rests on the same survey everywhere rather than on a patchwork.
What is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($48,140 to $89,000) sits at or below the family's median dispersion, indicating relatively standardized compensation. Percentiles are published per state, so this dispersion is specific to Pennsylvania rather than a national figure.
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 $59,361 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 $57,877 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.