What Lawyers earn in Westmoreland County, PA
If you are weighing a move or a job offer, start with $133,040: the median annual pay for Lawyers in Westmoreland County, PA. Spread over a standard 2,080-hour work year, that is $63.96 an hour. Because the wage survey covers the whole Pittsburgh, PA metropolitan area, the number reflects employers across the region rather than a single town or a single company.
The mean wage is $159,760, which is 20.1% above the median, a sign that a group of high earners lifts the average. The survey counts about 5,550 people working in this occupation across the Pittsburgh, PA metropolitan area, so the estimate rests on a substantial pool of workers. Westmoreland County, PA has roughly 352,500 residents, according to the population figures used by the rent data.
The salary range, from entry level to top earners
Pay for Lawyers in the Pittsburgh, PA metropolitan area is not one number. The lowest-paid tenth of workers earn up to $65,220 a year ($31.36 an hour), while the highest-paid tenth earn $308,000 or more ($148.08 an hour). That is a gap of $242,780 between the bottom and the top of the scale. The middle half of workers falls between $84,610 at the 25th percentile and $203,840 at the 75th percentile. A top-tier earner makes 4.7 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: $63.96 an hour or $133,040 a year at the median for Westmoreland County, PA. Before any deductions, that is $11,087 a month, $5,117 every two weeks and $2,558 each week. After taxes the same job pays $47.01 per hour of take-home income, which is the number that actually has to cover rent and groceries.
About this occupation: Lawyers
The U.S. Department of Labor's O*NET database describes the work of Lawyers this way: "Represent clients in criminal and civil litigation and other legal proceedings, draw up legal documents, or manage or advise clients on legal transactions. May specialize in a single area or may practice broadly in many areas of law."
Core tasks recorded by O*NET include: "Advise clients concerning business transactions, claim liability, advisability of prosecuting or defending lawsuits, or legal rights and obligations"; "Interpret laws, rulings and regulations for individuals and businesses"; "Analyze the probable outcomes of cases, using knowledge of legal precedents"; "Evaluate findings and develop strategies and arguments in preparation for presentation of cases".
Job outlook for Lawyers
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects national employment in this occupation to grow from 863,700 jobs in 2025 to 904,300 in 2035, a change of +4.7%, faster than the 3.5% projected for all occupations. The projection counts 28,700 openings a year on average, including positions created by growth and positions left by workers who retire or move to another occupation; that equals 3.3% of current employment each year. About 11.3% of the people in this occupation are self-employed, and wage figures cover wage and salary workers only.
Typical entry-level education: doctoral or professional degree. BLS lists a national median annual wage of $159,670 for this occupation; the Westmoreland County, PA median of $133,040 is 16.7% below it.
How pay in Westmoreland County, PA compares
Compared with the Pennsylvania average
Pay in Westmoreland County, PA runs $19,519 below the Pennsylvania average of $152,559, a gap of 12.8%. A worker who moved to a better-paying part of Pennsylvania would, on paper, gain that difference before taxes. Within Pennsylvania, the highest median we track for this job is $170,660 in Philadelphia County, PA.
Compared with the national average
The national employment-weighted average for Lawyers is $160,953 across the contiguous United States. At $133,040, Westmoreland County, PA pays $27,913 less, which is 17.3% below 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 Westmoreland County, PA
Among the 561 occupations with published wages in Westmoreland County, PA, Lawyers ranks number 19 by median pay, ahead of about 97% of them. The best-paying occupation we track here is Computer and Information Systems Managers at $159,090 a year, which is $26,050 more than the median for Lawyers.
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 Lawyers earning the Westmoreland County, PA median of $133,040, they add up to $35,258. The result is $97,782 of take-home pay a year ($8,148 a month), based on a single filer using the standard deduction.
Put another way, of every $100 earned, about $27 goes to taxes and $73 reaches the paycheck. The overall effective tax rate is 26.5%.
Federal income tax
After the $15,750 standard deduction, taxable income is $117,290. 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 24% bracket. The resulting federal income tax is $20,997, an effective 15.8% of gross pay, well below the 24% 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 $8,248 on this salary. Medicare takes 1.45%, or $1,929. FICA totals $10,178, which is 7.6% of gross pay.
State income tax in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania income tax on this salary is $4,084 a year, or 3.1% of gross pay, after the state's own deductions and exemptions are applied. That is 19% of the federal income tax bill, and it comes out to $340 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 Westmoreland County, PA
IRS Statistics of Income data for Westmoreland County, PA show an average adjusted gross income of $84,370 per return and an average effective federal income tax rate of 12.8% across all filers. Filers in the $100,000 to under $200,000 bracket, where this salary falls, paid an average of 10.9%, compared with the 15.8% 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 Westmoreland County, PA
Take-home pay only means something next to what life costs. We price four basics for one adult in Westmoreland County, PA: a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline. All of them are converted to annual figures first, then compared with the $97,782 of take-home pay.
Rent
Housing is the largest line in most budgets. For Westmoreland County, PA, HUD sets the Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom unit at $1,146 a month ($13,752 a year), and at $1,389 for two bedrooms. For Lawyers, a one-bedroom absorbs 14.1% of take-home pay and 10.3% 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 2.6% of gross pay for Lawyers in Westmoreland 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 $21,173 a year in Westmoreland County, PA. Subtract that from $97,782 of take-home pay and $76,609 remains, which is $6,384 a month of breathing room. That margin equals 57.6% of gross pay, a comfortable cushion by common budgeting rules.
Local housing and commute data for Westmoreland County, PA
The budget above covers rent, food, energy and gasoline. Three more local facts shape what a paycheck buys in Westmoreland 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 Westmoreland County, PA, set beside the Pennsylvania and national medians.
Property taxes in Westmoreland County, PA
Homeowners in Westmoreland County, PA pay a median of $2,501 a year in real estate taxes, 24% below the Pennsylvania median of $3,311 and 20% below the U.S. median of $3,119. Against a median home value of $203,500, the median tax bill is 1.23% of that value (the ratio of the two county medians). For a worker paid the local Lawyers median of $133,040, a tax bill of that size would equal 1.9% of gross pay, which matters for anyone planning to buy rather than rent.
Rents, home prices and household income in Westmoreland County, PA
Renters in Westmoreland County, PA pay a median gross rent of $879 a month in the Census survey, 27% below the Pennsylvania median of $1,209. HUD's Fair Market Rent for a one-bedroom apartment, which this site uses in the budget, is $1,146 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 $203,500, 20% below the Pennsylvania median of $254,500. Median household income is $74,109, 5% below the Pennsylvania median of $77,971, so a year of one-bedroom Fair Market Rent equals 18.6% of that income.
Commuting in Westmoreland County, PA
Workers in Westmoreland County, PA who travel to a workplace spend an average of 26.7 minutes each way, 2% above the Pennsylvania average of 26.3. For someone who commutes five days a week, that is 4.5 hours of round-trip travel every week, a cost the budget does not price. 13.3% of workers in Westmoreland County, PA work from home, compared with 15.1% nationally, which removes the commute for them.
Can Lawyers afford to live in Westmoreland 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 $133,040 that ceiling is $3,326 a month. The one-bedroom Fair Market Rent of $1,146 is $2,180 under it, so rent fits the guideline. Put as a wage, covering a one-bedroom at the 30% guideline takes $22.04 an hour; the median for Lawyers is $63.96, which is 190% above that mark. Another way to see it: at $47.01 of take-home pay an hour, a one-bedroom takes about 5.6 working hours every week.
Splitting a two-bedroom
Sharing a two-bedroom at $1,389 a month means $695 each. Compared with renting a one-bedroom alone, that saves $5,418 a year. With a roommate, the yearly margin after the basics becomes $82,027.
How fast you can save
At $6,384 a month of margin, building a $10,000 emergency fund would take about 2 months. Setting aside half of the margin stretches the same goal to about 4 months. These figures ignore interest, raises and any spending beyond the four basics.
Frequently asked questions about Lawyers pay in Westmoreland County, PA
How much do Lawyers make per hour in Westmoreland County, PA?
The median is $63.96 per hour, based on $133,040 a year over 2,080 hours. Hourly pay runs from about $31.36 at the 10th percentile to $148.08 at the 90th percentile.
How much do Lawyers take home after taxes in Westmoreland County, PA?
After federal income tax, FICA and state income tax, the median salary of $133,040 becomes $97,782 a year. That is $8,148 a month, $3,761 every two weeks or $1,880 a week.
How much tax do Lawyers pay in Westmoreland County, PA?
Total taxes are $35,258 a year, an effective rate of 26.5%: $20,997 federal income tax, $10,178 FICA and $4,084 Pennsylvania income tax.
Do Lawyers earn more in Westmoreland County, PA than elsewhere in Pennsylvania?
No. The local median of $133,040 is -12.8% versus the Pennsylvania average of $152,559, a difference of $19,519 a year.
Can Lawyers afford a one-bedroom apartment in Westmoreland County, PA?
A one-bedroom costs $1,146 a month against take-home pay of $8,148, which is 14.1% of take-home pay. That meets the 30%-of-gross guideline, which allows up to $3,326 a month.
What is the monthly budget margin for Lawyers in Westmoreland County, PA?
About $6,384 a month ($76,609 a year) remains after a one-bedroom apartment, food, home energy and gasoline, which together cost $21,173 a year.
What hourly wage covers a one-bedroom in Westmoreland County, PA at the 30% guideline?
$22.04 an hour for a full-time schedule, calculated as the $13,752 annual rent divided by 0.30 and by 2,080 hours. The median for Lawyers is $63.96.
How we calculated these numbers
Wages are May 2025 medians from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey for the Pittsburgh, PA 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.