- The middle half earn between $21.40 and $28.62 an hour.
- Pennsylvania ranks 29th of the 50 states and DC for median pay in this trade.
- Pennsylvania pays more than 3 of its 6 neighboring states.
- BLS counts about 1,590 crime scene cleaners on payrolls in Pennsylvania.
- At the state median wage, a biohazard cleaning business needs to bill about $111.00 an hour on the labor rate calculator's starting numbers.
Crime Scene Cleaner pay in Pennsylvania, bottom to top
BLS has no figure for crime scene cleaners. These are its numbers for hazardous materials removal workers, the closest group, which includes decontamination workers along with asbestos and lead abatement crews. Treat them as a rough guide, not a measure of crime scene work itself.
| Pay level | Hourly | Yearly | National hourly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10th percentile | $18.06 | $37,570 | $18.49 |
| 25th percentile | $21.40 | $44,520 | $21.50 |
| Median | $23.01 | $47,860 | $23.78 |
| 75th percentile | $28.62 | $59,520 | $29.58 |
| 90th percentile | $35.00 | $72,800 | $39.62 |
| Average (mean) | $25.55 | $53,140 | $27.13 |
Pay is bunched up in Pennsylvania. The top tenth earn $35.00 an hour or more, about 1.9 times the $18.06 at the bottom tenth. Nationally that gap is 2.1 times, so the step from the bottom of the scale to the top is shorter here than in most places.
Both ends trail the national figures. The bottom tenth earn $0.43 an hour less than the bottom tenth nationally, and the top tenth $4.62 less than the national top tenth.
The average wage, $25.55, sits 11% above the median. A smaller group of higher earners pulls the average up, so the median is the better guide to what a typical crime scene cleaner makes.
How Pennsylvania compares with other states
Over a full year the gap to the national median is small: $47,860 in Pennsylvania against $49,450 nationally, $1,590 less.
In the state ranking, Pennsylvania sits 29th, between Nebraska ($23.34) and Wisconsin ($22.96). The range runs from $17.61 in Arkansas to $35.14 in New York.
Against its neighboring states, Pennsylvania is in the middle: Maryland, New Jersey and New York pay more, and Delaware, Ohio and West Virginia pay less.
| Neighboring state | Median hourly | Median yearly | Against Pennsylvania |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | $23.01 | $47,860 | |
| Delaware | $21.28 | $44,250 | −$1.73 an hour |
| Maryland | $23.39 | $48,640 | +$0.38 an hour |
| New Jersey | $26.87 | $55,900 | +$3.86 an hour |
| New York | $35.14 | $73,090 | +$12.13 an hour |
| Ohio | $22.41 | $46,620 | −$0.60 an hour |
| West Virginia | $22.30 | $46,390 | −$0.71 an hour |
How many crime scene cleaners work in Pennsylvania
About 1,590 crime scene cleaners work on payrolls in Pennsylvania, 3.1% of the 51,710 nationwide, the 10th largest count among the states.
It is a smaller part of local jobs than in most of the country, at 0.3 per 1,000 jobs, 0.79 times the national share.
What a biohazard cleaning business in Pennsylvania should charge
Say you run a biohazard cleaning business in Pennsylvania and pay the state median of $23.01 an hour. Here is the labor rate calculator's math on its starting numbers: 40-hour weeks, 10 paid days off, 2 unbilled hours a day, 7.65% payroll taxes, $90,000 a year of overhead and 15% profit.
| Step | Math | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Paid hours | 40 × 52 | 2,080 |
| Hours at work | 2,080 − 10 days × 8 | 2,000 |
| Billable hours | 2,000 × 6 ÷ 8 | 1,500 |
| Labor cost | $23.01 × 2,080 × 1.0765 | $51,522 |
| Break-even rate | ($51,522 + $90,000) ÷ 1,500 | $94.35 |
| Rate with 15% profit | $94.35 ÷ 0.85 | $111.00 |
That is $111.00 per billable hour, 4.8 times the wage, and $1.35 less than the $112.35 the same math gives at the national median wage.
Paying the 75th percentile instead, $28.62 in Pennsylvania, to hire and keep experienced people raises the rate to $120.85.
A cheaper crew saves less than it seems: at the 25th percentile wage of $21.40, the rate only drops to $108.17.
At this wage, overhead is most of the price: $60 of every billed hour goes to it before anyone is paid. Spreading the same overhead over more billable hours, with a second person or less drive time, brings the rate down fastest.
Run it with your own numbers in the labor rate calculator. It is free and shows every step.
Where these numbers come from
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025.
The figures are the BLS state estimates for SOC 47-4041, hazardous materials removal workers, across all industries, read straight from the May 2025 state data file. They cover wage and salary workers, not the self-employed. Where BLS did not publish a figure, this page leaves it out.
All states in one table: crime scene cleaner salary by state.