Transportation Security Screeners in Pennsylvania
May 2025 wages · tax year 2026
You keep
$54,130
after federal, FICA and Pennsylvania tax
Tax takes
$13,200
19.6% of the whole
Worth, in national money
$55,518
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
$67,330
Kept after tax
$54,130
Worth in national money
$55,518
State rank
15
of 45 states
What this pays, and what it is worth
- This is a good state for the work. Pennsylvania pays this job a middle wage of $67,330, ranking 15 of 45 states and sitting about 0.84% above the national middle.
- Ordinary, locally speaking. This job ranks 179 among 492 occupations Pennsylvania publishes pay for.
- No great distortion either way. Pennsylvania costs about what the country costs, so from $67,330, take-home of $54,130 is worth roughly $55,518 in national money. The average lands at $63,390, below the middle of the range.
- Pennsylvania's median for transportation security screeners is $67,330, about 0.84% above the national figure and 15 of 45 states reporting. Whether that premium reaches the worker depends on the two adjustments below, which is the part a wage table cannot tell you.
- Position 179 of 492 in Pennsylvania places transportation security screeners 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.
- Price parity in Pennsylvania is near the national base, so for transportation security screeners, whose median is $67,330, the adjusted figure of $55,518 differs little from $54,130 retained after tax. The state's position for this occupation is therefore set by wage and tax rather than by living costs. At $63,390 the mean undershoots the median, an inversion of the usual skew.
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Pay band: Transportation Security Screeners
The state median for this job
| Lowest tenth earn under | $47,200 |
|---|---|
| Half earn under | $67,330 |
| Top tenth earn over | $74,800 |
| This salary | $67,330 |
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 | $54,130 |
|---|---|
| Take-home in Texas | $56,197 |
| Once local prices are leveledBEA price parity | +$2,313 |
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 | $64,654 |
|---|---|
| You could take a cut of | −$2,900 |
| Prices in Texas | 97 vs 98 |
State taxes and state price levels only. No city tax, and no housing market.
Sources and assumptions
- Treat $67,330 as a midpoint for Pennsylvania, not a promise. The tenth percentile is $47,200 and the ninetieth is $74,800 — a wide band, and where you land in it depends on far more than the state.
- In Pennsylvania the take-home figure of $54,130, from $67,330, 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 179 of 492 occupations here.
- One number stands for prices across all of Pennsylvania, which is a simplification — big cities cost far more than small towns. Read $55,518, the adjusted value of that $67,330 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 179 of 492 in the state.
- The Pennsylvania median of $67,330 describes the midpoint of a distribution spanning $47,200 to $74,800. Because that spread is typically larger than the interstate spread, a state median is a weak predictor for any individual worker in this occupation.
- Take-home for Pennsylvania is computed for a single filer taking the standard deduction with no dependants and no pre-tax contributions, giving $54,130 from $67,330. 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 179 of 492 locally.
- Price deflation uses one statewide parity for Pennsylvania, so $55,518 — the adjusted value of that $67,330 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 179 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 $63,390, dragged up by high earners; the middle figure describes a typical worker better.
How much does pay for this job actually vary?
Less than you might expect. The bottom tenth earn $47,200 and the top tenth $74,800, so most people doing this work in Pennsylvania sit within a fairly tight band.
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 $55,518 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 $54,130.
Why is this job missing from some states?
Because the survey suppresses a figure when too few employers report it. This occupation has published pay in 45 states — the rest are withheld to protect confidentiality, which is not the same as nobody doing the work there.
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 $63,390. 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 ($47,200 to $74,800) 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 $55,518 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 $54,130 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.