Technical Writers Salary

Yes — at the median salary of $88K, rent takes 24.1% of take-home pay. A 2-bedroom at the HUD Fair Market Rent runs $1,351/month. That stays under the 30% guideline most financial planners use.

The 10th-percentile wage — what new technical writers typically earn — is $54K/year. Take-home on that works out to about $3,253/month. At HUD’s $1,351/month FMR, rent would take 42% of that take-home — above the 30% guideline, so a 1-bedroom or shared housing is likely necessary starting out.

Pay here is roughly in line with the national average — $88K locally vs. $90K nationally, a 3% difference.

Pennsylvania pays $88K median vs. the U.S. average of $90K — that’s -3%. After adjusting for local cost of living (RPP 94.97), the purchasing-power equivalent is $92K — still ahead of the national median.

The median is $87,620 a year, that works out to about $42 an hour. But the range is wide: entry-level workers start around $54,220, and experienced technical writers can clear $158,180. These are BLS numbers, based on employer-reported data, not self-reported surveys.

On that salary, you'd take home roughly $5,612/month after taxes. A 2-bedroom here rents for about $1,351/month, which eats 24.1% of your paycheck. That's under the 30% guideline most financial planners use, so the numbers work.

Pennsylvania has a Regional Price Parity of 94.97 (100 is the national average). That's below average, your money stretches further here than the raw salary number suggests. After cost-of-living adjustment, the median technical writers salary is worth about $92,261 in national-average purchasing power.

The table above ranks every state by median pay for this role. Keep in mind that the highest-paying states tend to have the highest costs of living, so the top salary doesn't always mean the most money in your pocket.