Tellers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$33,247
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$6,953
17.3% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$34,099
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
$40,200
Kept after tax
$33,247
Worth in national money
$34,099
State rank
27
of 51 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Middling, nationally. Pennsylvania pays tellers around $40,200 at the midpoint, 27 of 51 states. The interesting numbers on this page are the two below it.
- Against 492 occupations Pennsylvania publishes, tellers lands at 412. That is the lower quarter. That is the comparison people actually feel, more than any national table.
- No great distortion either way. Pennsylvania costs about what the country costs, so from $40,200, take-home of $33,247 is worth roughly $34,099 in national money. The average comes to $41,800, above the middle, thanks to the top of the range.
- For tellers the Pennsylvania median is $40,200, ranking 27 of 51 states reporting. Mid-band nominal positions are the ones most frequently reordered by the adjustments, because no large wage premium exists to absorb a state's tax or price level.
- Within Pennsylvania, this work ranks 412 of 492 occupations by median pay, in the bottom quartile. The within-state position is the more salient one for anyone weighing this job against alternatives available to them locally.
- Price parity in Pennsylvania is near the national base, so for tellers, whose median is $40,200, the adjusted figure of $34,099 differs little from $33,247 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $41,800 the mean overshoots the median — the usual right-skewed shape.
Compare this career across states
Choose your filing status and local taxes, compare pay, and keep a shortlist.Compare wage and personal-pay outcomes by state, with selected resident local taxes and saved career choices.
Pay band: Tellers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $34,750 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $40,200 |
| Top tenth earn over | $49,160 |
| This salary | $40,200 |
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 | $33,247 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $34,481 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,384 |
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 | $38,664 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$1,674 |
| 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 tellers in Pennsylvania earn under $40,200 and half over. The published range runs $34,750 at the tenth percentile to $49,160 at the ninetieth. Experience and employer move an individual a long way inside that.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $33,247, from $40,200, assumes one filer, no dependants, and nothing paid into a pension before tax. Each of those lowers the bill, so treat it as the plain case. City and school-district income taxes are not included either, and in a few states those are real money. It ranks 412 of 492 occupations here.
- The wage data and the price data come from different years. That is how each is published. The price adjustment behind $34,099 uses one figure for the whole of Pennsylvania. A city and a rural county there can differ by more than two states do. Out of 492 occupations the state publishes, this one sits at 412.
- Figures are distribution medians for tellers in Pennsylvania, not entry or offer rates. The published band runs $34,750 to $49,160; 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.
- Take-home for Pennsylvania is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $33,247 from $40,200. Each omitted item reduces taxable income, so the figure is a lower bound on retained pay for this household shape. Municipal and school-district income taxes are excluded, which understates the burden materially in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland. The occupation ranks 412 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $34,099, worked from $40,200, deflates by a statewide parity that conceals substantial intra-state variation, concentrated in housing — so it supports comparison between states rather than the pricing of a move to a particular Pennsylvania address, on work sitting at 412 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 $41,800, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Most of these jobs pay within a close range — $34,750 at the tenth percentile, $49,160 at the ninetieth.
What does this pay actually buy where I live?
More than the figure suggests. Prices in Pennsylvania sit below the national level, so take-home here stretches like $34,099 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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, $33,247 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 $41,800. 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 is the dispersion of this occupation's wage distribution?
The tenth-to-ninetieth percentile span ($34,750 to $49,160) 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 $34,099 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 $33,247 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.