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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.

Typewriter page reading Salary Check, illustrating local salary and jobs data

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%.

Other Philadelphia datasets on this site.

Statewide: Pennsylvania cities · Pennsylvania ZIP codes · Pennsylvania sales tax · Pennsylvania counties