Technical Writers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$67,781
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$19,839
22.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$69,519
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
$87,620
Kept after tax
$67,781
Worth in national money
$69,519
State rank
18
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for technical writers. The median is $87,620, ranking 18 of 45 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
- This is one of the better-paid jobs in Pennsylvania. It ranks 93 out of 492 occupations the state publishes figures for, which puts it in the top quarter locally.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $87,620, tax leaves $67,781, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $69,519 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $95,660, since top earners drag the number up.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for technical writers: a median of $87,620, ranking 18 of 45. Where nominal pay is close to the national figure, the tax and price adjustments below carry proportionally more weight in determining the real outcome.
- Within Pennsylvania, technical writers ranks 93 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.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for technical writers — median $87,620 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $67,781 retained, $69,519 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $95,660 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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Pay band: Technical Writers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $54,220 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $87,620 |
| Top tenth earn over | $158,180 |
| This salary | $87,620 |
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 | $67,781 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $70,471 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$3,001 |
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 | $83,796 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$4,145 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- A median is the middle, not an offer. Half of technical writers in Pennsylvania earn under $87,620 and half over. The published range runs $54,220 at the tenth percentile to $158,180 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- That $67,781 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $87,620. 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 93 of 492.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $69,519, the adjusted value of that $87,620 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 93 of 492 in the state.
- Figures are distribution medians for technical writers in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $54,220 to $158,180; within-state dispersion of that width routinely exceeds the dispersion between states, so tenure, employer and metropolitan area predict an individual's pay better than geography does.
- Retained pay of $67,781, from $87,620, 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 93 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 18 of 45 for it.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $69,519 — the adjusted value of that $87,620 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 93 of 492 locally.
Questions people ask
Is this the average pay for the job?
It is the midpoint, not the average. The average here is $95,660, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
Why is the pay range for this job so wide?
One title, many jobs. The lowest tenth take $54,220, the highest tenth $158,180, 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 $69,519 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 $67,781.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 45 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 $95,660. 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 ($54,220) and the ninetieth ($158,180) 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 $69,519 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 $67,781 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 45 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.