Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers in Pennsylvania

Wrenches, screwdrivers and gloves on an organized repair workbench.

May 2025 wages · tax year 2026

You keep

$52,381

after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax

Tax takes

$12,579

19.4% of the whole

Worth, in national money

$53,724

Pennsylvania costs less than average

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

$64,960

Kept after tax

$52,381

Worth in national money

$53,724

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 $64,960, ranking 23 of 51 states with figures. Close enough to the national middle that where you live matters more than the headline suggests.
  • Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 190 among 492 occupations Pennsylvania publishes pay for.
  • Prices here sit close to the national average, so the adjustment changes little. From $64,960 the take-home is $52,381, which is worth about $53,724 in comparable money. Tax does most of the work here, not cost of living. The average is higher, $68,520, because the best-paid pull it up.
  • Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers: a median of $64,960, 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.
  • Position 190 of 492 in Pennsylvania places telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers 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.
  • Pennsylvania's price level is near the national average, so price deflation is close to neutral for telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers on its $64,960 median: $52,381 retained after tax becomes $53,724 in national-average terms. Where the price adjustment is small, the tax stack is the dominant determinant of the real outcome. The mean of $68,520 sits above the median, the right skew typical of wage data.

Compare this career across states

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Pay band: Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers

The state median for this job

50thpercentile, roughly
Lowest tenth earn under$41,510
Half earn under$64,960
Top tenth earn over$97,800
This salary$64,960

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

Compare with
+$1,994take-home per year in Texas
Take-home in Pennsylvania$52,381
Take-home in Texas$54,375
Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity+$2,232

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

Moving to
$0now · $64,960$62,261
$62,261in Texas, for the same life
To match take-home only$62,478
You could take a cut of−$2,699
Prices in Texas97 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 $64,960. The published range is $41,510 up to $97,800, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
  • That $52,381 take-home in Pennsylvania comes from $64,960. 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 190 of 492.
  • One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $53,724, the adjusted value of that $64,960 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 190 of 492 in the state.
  • Reported values are medians; for telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $41,510 to $97,800. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
  • Retained pay of $52,381, from $64,960, 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 190 of 492 locally, and the state ranks 23 of 51 for it.
  • Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $53,724 — the adjusted value of that $64,960 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 190 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 $68,520, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.

Why is the pay range for this job so wide?

Because one job title covers very different work. The bottom tenth here earn $41,510 and the top tenth $97,800 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.

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 $53,724 in national terms.

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, $52,381 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.

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 $68,520. 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 ($41,510) and the ninetieth ($97,800) 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 $53,724 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 $52,381 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.