What Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers earn in Philadelphia County, PA
According to the latest federal wage data for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area, the median pay for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers in Philadelphia County, PA is $51,990 a year, or $25.00 an hour. After federal income tax, Social Security, Medicare and state income tax, the paycheck shrinks to $42,306 a year, and rent, food and energy take another bite. The sections below walk through each step with the actual math for Philadelphia County, PA.
The mean wage is $56,720, which is 9.1% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 8,520 people working in this occupation across the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Philadelphia County, PA has roughly 1,579,706 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $37,440 a year ($18.00 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $79,490 or more ($38.22 an hour). That is a gap of $42,050 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $44,120 at the 25th percentile and $63,360 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 2.1 times what someone at the bottom makes, so experience, certification and employer all matter.
What the hourly rate looks like
Employers quote this occupation by the hour or by the year, so here are both: $25.00 an hour or $51,990 a year at the median for Philadelphia County, PA. Before any deductions, that is $4,333 a month, $2,000 every two weeks and $1,000 each week. After taxes the same job pays $20.34 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers this way: "Inspect, test, sort, sample, or weigh nonagricultural raw materials or processed, machined, fabricated, or assembled parts or products for defects, wear, and deviations from specifications. May use precision measuring instruments and complex test equipment."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Discard or reject products, materials, or equipment not meeting specifications"; "Inspect, test, or measure materials, products, installations, or work for conformance to specifications"; "Record inspection or test data, such as weights, temperatures, grades, or moisture content, and quantities inspected or graded"; "Mark items with details, such as grade or acceptance-rejection status".
Job outlook for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 602,000 jobs in 2025 to 617,200 in 2035, a change of +2.5%, slower than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 66,700 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 11.1% of current employment each year.
Typical entry-level education: high school diploma or equivalent. Typical on-the-job training to reach competency: moderate-term on-the-job training. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $48,570 for this occupation; the Philadelphia County, PA median of $51,990 is 7.0% above it.
How pay in Philadelphia County, PA compares
Compared with the Pennsylvania average
A worker in this occupation in Philadelphia County, PA earns $2,784 more than the Pennsylvania average of $49,206, a premium of 5.7%. Over a year that premium is worth $2,784 before tax and roughly $2,266 after tax. Within Pennsylvania, Philadelphia County, PA already has the highest median we track for this job.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers is $49,892 across the contiguous United States. At $51,990, Philadelphia County, PA pays $2,098 more, which is 4.2% above that benchmark. Keep in mind that a higher salary only helps if living costs do not rise faster, which is why the cost sections below matter as much as the headline number.
Where this job ranks in Philadelphia County, PA
Among the 636 occupations with published wages in Philadelphia County, PA, Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers ranks number 418 by median pay, ahead of about 34% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $173,470 a year, which is $121,480 more than the median for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers.
From gross pay to take-home pay
Three separate tax bills sit between the gross salary and the bank account: federal income tax, FICA, and state income tax. For Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers earning the Philadelphia County, PA median of $51,990, they add up to $9,684. The result is $42,306 of take-home pay a year ($3,526 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $19 goes to taxes and $81 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 18.6%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $36,240. Federal brackets are marginal, so only the slice of income above each threshold is taxed at the higher rate; the last dollars of this salary fall in the 12% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $4,110, an effective 7.9% of gross pay, well below the 12% marginal rate because the lower brackets are cheaper.
Social Security and Medicare (FICA)
Payroll taxes are a flat percentage of wages. Social Security takes 6.2% up to a wage base of $176,100, which costs $3,223 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $754. FICA totals $3,977, which is 7.7% of gross pay.
State income tax in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania income tax on this salary is $1,596 a year, or 3.1% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 39% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $133 a month. Local taxes such as county or city income taxes are not included, so a few jurisdictions may withhold slightly more.
A cross-check with IRS data for Philadelphia County, PA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Philadelphia County, PA show an average adjusted gross income of $71,208 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 13.4% across all filers. Filers in the $50,000 to under $75,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 7.5%, compared with the 7.9% estimated here for a single filer taking the standard deduction. Gaps between the two reflect filing status, dependents, credits and other income, none of which a single-person wage estimate includes.
Cost of living in Philadelphia County, PA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Philadelphia County, PA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $42,306 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Philadelphia County, PA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,558 a month ($18,696 a year), and at $1,860 for two bedrooms. For Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers, a one-bedroom absorbs 44.2% of take-home pay and 36.0% of gross pay.
Food
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (August 2026) puts the cost of a nutritious home-cooked diet for an adult at about $3,436 a year, which is $286 a month or $66.07 a week. That equals 6.6% of gross pay for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers in Philadelphia County, PA. It is a thrifty budget with no restaurant meals, so treat it as a floor.
Energy and gasoline
Using Pennsylvania residential prices from the Energy Information Administration and national household averages for consumption, electricity costs about $1,877 a year and other home energy such as natural gas about $535, for $2,412 in total. Gasoline in Pennsylvania averages $3.40 per gallon; at about 463 gallons a year (11,106 miles at 24 miles per gallon) fuel adds $1,573.
What is left over
Rent, food, energy and gasoline cost $26,117 a year in Philadelphia County, PA. Subtract that from $42,306 of take-home pay and $16,190 remains, which is $1,349 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 31.1% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Philadelphia County, PA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Philadelphia County, PA: property taxes, housing prices and the daily commute. The figures below are exact U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates for Philadelphia County, PA, set beside the Pennsylvania and national medians.
Property taxes in Philadelphia County, PA
Homeowners in Philadelphia County, PA pay a median of $2,003 a year in real estate taxes, 40% below the Pennsylvania median of $3,311 and 36% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $243,100, the median tax bill is 0.82% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers median of $51,990, a tax bill of that size would equal 3.9% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Philadelphia County, PA
Renters in Philadelphia County, PA pay a median gross rent of $1,397 a month in the Census survey, 16% above the Pennsylvania median of $1,209. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,558 a month; the two measures differ because the Census figure covers units of every size that renters already occupy, while the HUD figure is a one-bedroom benchmark. The median value of an owner-occupied home is $243,100, 4% below the Pennsylvania median of $254,500. Median household income is $61,953, 21% below the Pennsylvania median of $77,971, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 30.2% of that income.
Commuting in Philadelphia County, PA
Workers in Philadelphia County, PA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 31.7 minutes each way, 21% above the Pennsylvania average of 26.3. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 5.3 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 18.4% of workers in Philadelphia County, PA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers afford to live in Philadelphia County, PA?
The 30% rent guideline
A common rule of thumb says rent should stay under 30% of gross income. For a gross salary of $51,990 that ceiling is $1,300 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,558 is $258 over it, so rent breaks the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $29.96 an hour; the median for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers is $25.00, which is 17% below that mark. Another way to see it: at $20.34 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 17.7 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,860 a month means $930 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $7,536 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $23,726.
How fast you can save
At $1,349 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 8 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 16 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers pay in Philadelphia County, PA
How much do Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers make per hour in Philadelphia County, PA?
The median is $25.00 per hour, based on $51,990 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $18.00 at the 10th percentile to $38.22 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers take home after taxes in Philadelphia County, PA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $51,990 becomes $42,306 a year. That is $3,526 a month, $1,627 every two weeks or $814 a week.
How much tax do Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers pay in Philadelphia County, PA?
Total taxes are $9,684 a year, an effective rate of 18.6%: $4,110 federal income tax, $3,977 FICA and $1,596 Pennsylvania income tax.
Do Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers earn more in Philadelphia County, PA than elsewhere in Pennsylvania?
Yes. The local median of $51,990 is +5.7% versus the Pennsylvania average of $49,206, a difference of $2,784 a year.
Can Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Philadelphia County, PA?
A one-bedroom costs $1,558 a month against take-home pay of $3,526, which is 44.2% of take-home pay. That does not meet the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $1,300 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers in Philadelphia County, PA?
About $1,349 a month ($16,190 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $26,117 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Philadelphia County, PA at the 30% guideline?
$29.96 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $18,696 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Inspectors, Testers, Sorters, Samplers, and Weighers is $25.00.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metropolitan area; hourly-only values are annualized at 2,080 hours. Rents are HUD Fair Market Rents, food costs come from the USDA Thrifty Food Plan, and energy prices come from the Energy Information Administration. County-level tax statistics come from the IRS Statistics of Income.
Taxes use tax-year 2025 federal brackets, FICA rates and the Pennsylvania rules for a single filer with wage income only. Figures are estimates for planning and comparison, not tax or financial advice, and they exclude local income taxes, benefits, retirement contributions and individual circumstances.