Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$42,536
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$9,684
18.5% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$43,626
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
$52,220
Kept after tax
$42,536
Worth in national money
$43,626
State rank
29
of 47 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- Pennsylvania sits in the middle of the pack for this job. The median is $52,220, ranking 29 of 47 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 289 among 492 occupations Pennsylvania publishes pay for.
- Cost of living is unremarkable here. From $52,220, tax leaves $42,536, and adjusting for local prices barely moves it — about $43,626 in comparable terms. Averages run higher here, $62,640, since top earners drag the number up.
- Pennsylvania occupies the middle band for title examiners, abstractors, and searchers: a median of $52,220, ranking 29 of 47. 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 289 of 492 in Pennsylvania places title examiners, abstractors, and searchers 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.
- Because Pennsylvania sits close to the national price level, the real-terms figure for title examiners, abstractors, and searchers — median $52,220 — tracks the post-tax figure closely: $42,536 retained, $43,626 adjusted. ⚠️ Neither is a wage; the second describes what the first buys. Mean pay of $62,640 exceeds the median, so the upper tail is doing the work.
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: Title Examiners, Abstractors, and Searchers
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $33,980 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $52,220 |
| Top tenth earn over | $95,610 |
| This salary | $52,220 |
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 | $42,536 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $44,139 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$1,796 |
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 | $50,225 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,172 |
| 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 $52,220. The published range is $33,980 up to $95,610, so an individual figure can sit a long way from the middle in either direction.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $42,536, from $52,220, 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 289 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 $43,626 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 289.
- Reported values are medians; for title examiners, abstractors, and searchers in Pennsylvania the tenth-to-ninetieth percentile band is $33,980 to $95,610. Neither the median nor the band is an offer rate, and neither accounts for hours, shift differentials or overtime.
- Take-home for Pennsylvania is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $42,536 from $52,220. 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 289 of 492 locally.
- Wage and price series carry different reference periods, each published on its own schedule. The real-terms figure of $43,626, worked from $52,220, 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 289 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 $62,640, 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 $33,980 and the top tenth $95,610 — experience, employer and specialism separate them, and a single figure hides all three.
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 $43,626 would elsewhere. The wage is the same; the ground it covers is larger.
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 $42,536.
Why is this job missing from some states?
The survey withholds small samples rather than publish an unreliable number. Pay appears for 47 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 $62,640. 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 ($33,980) and the ninetieth ($95,610) 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 $43,626 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 $42,536 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 47 of the fifty-one jurisdictions. Suppression reflects sample size and confidentiality rules, and cannot be read as an absence of employment.