Why is the BEA RPP for Pennsylvania different from a single CPI number?

BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Pennsylvania's overall index of 97.4 reflects rents 85.8, services 118.3, and goods 98.4.

Where does Pennsylvania rank for Real Estate Agent pay?

On nominal BLS wages alone, Pennsylvania ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.

How wide is the wage spread in Pennsylvania?

P10 to P90 spans $26,950 to $116,520. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.

What are the limits of these Real Estate Agent salary numbers?

BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.

Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Pennsylvania?

The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Pennsylvania.

When does this data update?

BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.

Does the BLS real estate agent figure represent typical Pennsylvania agent income?

Probably not — and this is the single largest BLS limitation for this occupation. The vast majority of Pennsylvania real estate agents work as independent contractors paid on 1099, not W-2. BLS OEWS measures wage and salary employment only, so the figure on this page reflects the small subset of agents on W-2 (typically corporate brokerage employees, salaried agents at iBuyer firms, salaried team-staff agents). The much larger 1099 commission-only population is captured by NAR member surveys and IRS Schedule C data, both of which show median income substantially below BLS — typically $30-50K nationally for the median agent — with extreme right-skew. Treat the BLS number on this page as a floor, not a typical figure.

Pennsylvania Real Estate Agent Salary: BLS $54K Median, Real $55K (2026)

TL;DR

Headline Real Estate Agent pay in Pennsylvania is $53,590. Real take-home, after the state's cost-of-living index, lands at $55,021.
Wage envelope: $26,950 (P10) to $116,520 (P90), with quartiles at $38,830 and $79,340.
Cost adjustment is small — neither an arbitrage state nor a high-cost penalty.
Nominal: #21/51 · Real: #21/51 — ranking shifts by 0 positions after RPP.

Wage breakdown — Pennsylvania

Percentile	Nominal (BLS)	Real (BEA RPP-adjusted)
P10 (entry tier)	$26,950	$27,669
P25 (lower quartile)	$38,830	$39,867
P50 (median)	$53,590	$55,021
P75 (upper quartile)	$79,340	$81,458
P90 (top tier)	$116,520	$119,630
Mean	$63,210	$64,897
Employment	5,250 Real Estate Agents in Pennsylvania

Cost of living — BEA Regional Price Parity

Component	Pennsylvania index (US = 100)
All-items RPP	97.4
Goods	98.4
Services	118.3
Rents	85.8

Pennsylvania's overall RPP (97.4) is close to the national 100 baseline; nominal and real wage move roughly together.

After-tax take-home — Pennsylvania (2024 BLS · 2024 tax year, single filer)

Layer-by-layer take-home math at the BLS median

Layer	Amount	Note
Gross BLS P50 (Real Estate Agent)	$53,590	nominal median
Federal income tax	−$4,293	8.0% effective; std deduction $15,750 applied
State income tax	−$1,645	3.07% flat (+ local 0.5-3.9% Philly/Pgh)
FICA (SS 6.2% + Medicare 1.45%)	−$4,100	SS capped at $183,600 wage base
Take-home (after-tax)	$43,552	81.3% of gross
Real take-home (RPP-adjusted)	$44,715	÷ (97.4 / 100) BEA cost-of-living

What the Pennsylvania state-tax burden means for Real Estate Agent take-home

Mid-band state-tax burden at 3.1% effective. Combined with federal and FICA, take-home is $43,552 (81.3% of gross). After the 97.4 RPP, real take-home is $44,715. Local-tax overlay: Philadelphia residents pay 3.75% city wage tax; Pittsburgh ~3% combined city + school. Subtract roughly $1,876/year if PHL-based.

Computed from 2026 IRS federal brackets (Rev. Proc. 2025-32), 2026 state DOR brackets, and 2026 FICA rates. Single filer, standard deduction, no other adjustments. See methodology · tax for limitations (married filers, ITM/SALT itemizers, retirement deferrals, HSA, dependent credits, etc.).

National context

Across the United States, BLS reports a national median of $56,320 for Real Estate Agents with mean pay of $70,970 and total employment of 190,600. Pennsylvania sits at #21 on nominal pay and #21 on real (cost-adjusted) pay among the 51 states and DC. Nominal and real ranking are the same — cost of living and pay scale together.

Frequently asked questions

Why is the BEA RPP for Pennsylvania different from a single CPI number?: BEA splits regional price parity into three components — goods, services, and rents — reweighted to the BEA's national consumption basket. Pennsylvania's overall index of 97.4 reflects rents 85.8, services 118.3, and goods 98.4.
Where does Pennsylvania rank for Real Estate Agent pay?: On nominal BLS wages alone, Pennsylvania ranks among the 51 states and DC by median pay. After the BEA cost-of-living adjustment the ordering changes — high-cost states fall, low-cost states rise. Both rankings are shown in the data table on this page.
How wide is the wage spread in Pennsylvania?: P10 to P90 spans $26,950 to $116,520. That spread captures entry-level to top-quartile pay, including specialty differentials and metro-area variance within the state.
What are the limits of these Real Estate Agent salary numbers?: BLS OES is an employer survey of W-2 wages — it excludes contractor pay, bonuses outside the base wage definition, equity compensation, and tip income. Self-employed practitioners and gig workers are not represented. For occupations with significant non-W-2 income, the BLS figure is a floor, not a complete picture.
Should I negotiate based on the BLS median for Pennsylvania?: The BLS median is a calibration anchor, not a ceiling. Use it to validate that an offer is in-band — anything well below the P25 in this state is a flag, anything above the P75 typically requires demonstrable specialty depth, niche credentials, or a high-COL metro within Pennsylvania.
When does this data update?: BLS OES releases a new May reference set roughly each spring; we re-run the ETL pipeline within two weeks of release. BEA RPP refreshes annually. The last-synced timestamp at the top of this page reflects the most recent build.
Does the BLS real estate agent figure represent typical Pennsylvania agent income?: Probably not — and this is the single largest BLS limitation for this occupation. The vast majority of Pennsylvania real estate agents work as independent contractors paid on 1099, not W-2. BLS OEWS measures wage and salary employment only, so the figure on this page reflects the small subset of agents on W-2 (typically corporate brokerage employees, salaried agents at iBuyer firms, salaried team-staff agents). The much larger 1099 commission-only population is captured by NAR member surveys and IRS Schedule C data, both of which show median income substantially below BLS — typically $30-50K nationally for the median agent — with extreme right-skew. Treat the BLS number on this page as a floor, not a typical figure.

Sources & methodology

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics — Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OES), SOC 41-9022, 2024 reference period.
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities, 2023 vintage (all-items, goods, services, rents).
Real-wage figures = nominal BLS wage ÷ (state RPP / 100).
See the methodology page for full computation details and limitations.

By Marcus Liang · Founder & Editor · Last synced 2026-05-08.

Cross-comparison: see how Pennsylvania Real Estate Agent pay ranks against the other 254 state × occupation pages on the Real Wage Atlas → — four-way ranking by real wage, after-tax take-home, state-tax savings, and cost-of-living arbitrage.