Median pay · Pennsylvania
$28,420A year, or $14 an hour.| Percentile | Annual | Hourly |
|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile1 in 10 earn less | $17,460 | $8 |
| 25th percentile | $21,270 | $10 |
| MedianHalf earn more, half less | $28,420 | $14 |
| 75th percentile | $45,530 | $22 |
| 90th percentile1 in 10 earn more | $62,830 | $30 |
| MeanAll pay divided by all jobs | $35,460 | $17 |
Wage survey · BLS May 2025
How we got this
- Median wage in PennsylvaniaBLS OEWS May 2025. Half of the people in this job were paid more than this, half less.$28,420
- Median hourly wagePublished separately by BLS, not divided out of the annual figure.$13.66
- Take-home after federal, state and FICA tax$2,012 a month at an effective rate of 15.1%.$24,141 a year
- Worth at national average pricesPrices in Pennsylvania sit at 97.6 against a national 100 (BEA, 2024).$29,127
- Against the national medianThe national median is $34,340.17.2% below
- Jobs countedA concentration of 1.27 against the nation's 1.00.37,490
What we assumed
- Wages are BLS OEWS survey estimates for May 2025, not job postings or offers.
- OEWS surveys wage and salary workers. The self-employed and business owners are outside it.
- Take-home assumes one 2026 filer, filing single, taking the standard deduction, with no dependents, pre-tax retirement contributions or local income tax.
- Regional price parities compare price levels between places in one year. They are not inflation, and they do not adjust for what a household actually buys.
Technical details
Method occupation-wage-v1Data bls-oews-2025-05-v1, us-tax-2026-v1, bea-rpp-2024-v1, census-acs5-2024-v1
What lands in the bank
Tax year 2026 · InteractiveEstimated on the median salary of $28,420 in Pennsylvania, for a single filer taking the standard deduction in 2026. Explore other wage levels and filing statuses below.
Run the numbers on your own pay
Same U.S. tax tables as the rest of the site. Change the salary, state, or filing status.
What $28,420 is worth in Pennsylvania
Prices in Pennsylvania sit at 97.6 against a national average of 100, so $28,420 earned here buys what $29,127 buys at national average prices.
- Rents. 85.1 against 100, the component that moves most between states.
- Against local households. The median household in Pennsylvania takes in $77,971, so this occupation's median is 0.36 times that, on one income.
- How common the job is here. 27% more concentrated in Pennsylvania than in the country as a whole.
Reading the numbers
What stands out for bartenders in Pennsylvania
Rents in Pennsylvania index at 85.1 (U.S. = 100) while prices overall index at 97.6, a gap of -12.5 pts. For a renter, housing moves the local cost of living more than anything else.
The gap between the ends is wide: the 90th percentile ($62,830) is 3.6 times the 10th ($17,460). The survey does not say who sits where in that range. It records no experience, shift or employer.
The average here is $35,460, well above the median of $28,420. A smaller group of high earners lifts the average, so the median is the better guide to what most bartenders in Pennsylvania are paid.
The median for this job is 0.4 times the median household income in Pennsylvania ($77,971). Many households have two earners, so one paycheck at this level falls short of what a typical local household brings in.
Common questions
Bartender pay in Pennsylvania, answered
How much does a bartender make in Pennsylvania?
The median wage for bartenders in Pennsylvania is $28,420 a year, or $13.66 an hour.
Half earn more than that and half earn less. The figure comes from the Bureau of Labor Statistics occupational wage survey for May 2025.
What is the average bartender salary in Pennsylvania?
BLS’s mean (average) wage for bartenders in Pennsylvania is $35,460 a year. The median is $28,420.
The mean sits higher when a smaller group of high earners pulls the average up. For a typical paycheck, the median is the better middle.
What is the hourly pay for a bartender in Pennsylvania?
The median hourly wage is $13.66. At a full-time year that lines up with about $28,420 a year.
BLS May 2025; hourly and annual figures come from the same survey.
What is the starting salary for a bartender in Pennsylvania?
BLS does not publish starting pay. The closest figure it does publish is the low end of the range: in Pennsylvania, the lowest-paid 10% of bartenders earn under $17,460 a year and a quarter earn under $21,270 ($8.39 and $10.22 an hour).
New hires often start somewhere in that band, but the May 2025 survey does not record experience, so read it as a floor to compare an offer against rather than a typical first salary.
What is the salary range for a bartender in Pennsylvania?
The overall salary range for bartenders in Pennsylvania spans from $17,460 for the bottom 10% to $62,830 for top earners.
The middle 50% earn between $21,270 and $45,530 a year, with the overall median at $28,420.
What is the take-home pay for a bartender in Pennsylvania?
On the median wage of $28,420, a single filer taking the 2026 standard deduction keeps an estimated $24,141 a year, or roughly $2,012 a month.
That is after federal, state and FICA tax, an effective rate of 15.1%.
Pennsylvania takes $872 of it in state income tax.
How much does a bartender make a month in Pennsylvania?
On the median annual salary of $28,420, estimated take-home pay is roughly $2,012 a month after federal, state, and FICA taxes.
For workers paid on a standard biweekly schedule (26 pay periods per year), each paycheck is approximately $929 net.
Do bartenders earn more in Pennsylvania than in the rest of the country?
No. The median in Pennsylvania is 17.2% below the national median of $34,340.
Nominal pay is only half the comparison: prices in Pennsylvania sit at 97.6 against a national 100, so the gap in what the money buys is different from the gap in the salary.
Is $28,420 a good salary in Pennsylvania?
It is 0.36 times the median household income of $77,971. A household often has more than one earner, so a single salary at this level goes further than the ratio alone suggests.
Prices in Pennsylvania run at 97.6 against a national average of 100, with rents at 85.1, so $28,420 here buys about what $29,127 buys at national average prices.
What do the highest-paid bartenders earn in Pennsylvania?
The top tenth earn $62,830 a year or more. The 10th-percentile wage is $17,460.
Experience, specialty, employer and the part of Pennsylvania someone works in all move a wage inside that range; the survey reports the spread, not the reason for it.
How many bartenders are there in Pennsylvania?
The survey counted 37,490 of these jobs in Pennsylvania for May 2025.
That makes the occupation 27% more concentrated here than in the country as a whole. It counts wage and salary jobs, so the self-employed are outside it.