Philadelphia County · Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA jobs and wages
Who works here, what they earn, and which industries carry the local economy — Census ACS estimates for the city itself, not the wider metro.
Quick answer
Workers in Philadelphia, PA earn a median of $42,478 a year, 5% below the national median of $44,587. Unemployment is 8.4% against 5.2% nationally, and education, health care & social assistance is the largest employer at 32.5% of jobs.
- Median earnings
- $42,478#46 of 94 metros
- Unemployment rate
- 8.4%US 5.2%
- Labor force participation
- 63.4%US 63.5%
- People employed
- 741,315Civilian employed, age 16+
What Philadelphia does for a living
Share of the civilian employed population by industry, largest first.
- Education, health care & social assistance32.5%
- Professional, scientific & management12.8%
- Retail trade9.2%
- Arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation & food8.4%
- Finance, insurance & real estate6.5%
- Manufacturing6.3%
- Transportation, warehousing & utilities6.3%
- Public administration5.6%
- Other services, except public administration4.7%
- Construction3.8%
- Wholesale trade1.8%
- Information1.8%
- Agriculture, forestry, fishing, hunting & mining0.3%
Related data for Philadelphia
Earnings only mean something next to what things cost.
Source: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates
Tables B23025, B20002 and C24030, 2019-2023 ACS 5-year. Industry shares combine the male and female columns of C24030 and are rounded, so they may not total exactly 100%.