Erie, PA Salaries
Local wages where BEA prices sit below the US average (RPP 91.0) - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Erie, PA moved from $43,410 in May 2024 to $44,460 in May 2025 (+2.4%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Erie, PA sits -0.7 pp behind that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
Home Health and Personal Care Aides shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Erie, PA
Home Health and Personal Care Aides publishes $27,860 here versus $35,800 nationally (-22.2%; 6,640metro-area jobs). Next is Retail Salespersons at $28,610 locally versus $35,410 nationally (-19.2%).
- Home Health and Personal Care Aides$27,860 in Erie, PA sits 22.2% below the national Home Health and Personal Care Aides median of $35,800 (6,640 published local jobs).
- Retail Salespersons$28,610 in Erie, PA sits 19.2% below the national Retail Salespersons median of $35,410 (3,340 published local jobs).
- Registered Nurses$80,000 in Erie, PA sits 18.0% below the national Registered Nurses median of $97,550 (3,060 published local jobs).
- General and Operations Managers$89,840 in Erie, PA sits 15.1% below the national General and Operations Managers median of $105,770 (2,840 published local jobs).
Home Health and Personal Care Aides and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Erie, PA; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 21500 · Erie, PA $54K mean
MEAN-LOW · RPP-LOW · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-LOW #378/528
- RPP-LOW 91.0
- OCC-MID 345 occs
- TOP-LEAD Family Medicin… · $278K
- EMP-MIX Mechanical E…
- TREND-INLINE -0.7 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Northwest Virgin…
- BOOK-FULL 340 rows · May 2025
Read with Northwest Virginia nonmetropolitan area (+$19 on published-row mean) · Salary vs. cost of living
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer, not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Erie, PA
Where Erie, PA already employs the upper wage tier
Mechanical Engineers and Financial Managers lead published employment inside Erie, PA's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Mechanical Engineers 590 jobs · $106,890
- 2. Financial Managers 430 jobs · $121,550
- 3. Computer and Information Systems Managers 300 jobs · $131,610
- 4. Lawyers 260 jobs · $128,130
- 5. Nurse Practitioners 260 jobs · $122,100
- 6. Sales Managers 260 jobs · $118,050
- 7. Managers, All Other 230 jobs · $107,970
- 8. Pharmacists 220 jobs · $128,360
- 9. Electrical Engineers 200 jobs · $109,260
- 10. Architectural and Engineering Managers 180 jobs · $149,380
- 11. Physician Assistants 170 jobs · $111,260
- 12. Marketing Managers 130 jobs · $120,090
- 13. Human Resources Managers 130 jobs · $104,120
- 14. Business Teachers, Postsecondary 120 jobs · $106,300
- 15. Education Administrators, Postsecondary 110 jobs · $105,910
- 16. Chief Executives 100 jobs · $170,340
- 17. Computer Occupations, All Other 100 jobs · $104,800
- 18. Dentists, General 80 jobs · $137,530
Occupations Tracked
345
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$54,263
employment-weighted, 340 complete rows
Top Salary
$277,880
Family Medicine Physicians
Cost of Living
91.0
9% below US avg
Top-pay occupations in Erie, PA, by employment
Same top-pay sample as the salary ranking, sorted by published local jobs so the title sequence follows the OEWS mix.
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mechanical Engineers | $106,890 |
| 2 | Financial Managers | $121,550 |
| 3 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $131,610 |
| 4 | Lawyers | $128,130 |
| 5 | Nurse Practitioners | $122,100 |
| 6 | Sales Managers | $118,050 |
| 7 | Managers, All Other | $107,970 |
| 8 | Pharmacists | $128,360 |
| 9 | Electrical Engineers | $109,260 |
| 10 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $149,380 |
| 11 | Physician Assistants | $111,260 |
| 12 | Marketing Managers | $120,090 |
| 13 | Human Resources Managers | $104,120 |
| 14 | Business Teachers, Postsecondary | $106,300 |
| 15 | Education Administrators, Postsecondary | $105,910 |
| 16 | Chief Executives | $170,340 |
| 17 | Computer Occupations, All Other | $104,800 |
| 18 | Dentists, General | $137,530 |
| 19 | Nurse Anesthetists | $212,120 |
| 20 | Veterinarians | $123,670 |
| 21 | Labor Relations Specialists | $102,870 |
| 22 | Family Medicine Physicians | $277,880 |
| 23 | Purchasing Managers | $135,580 |
| 24 | Optometrists | $134,230 |
| 25 | Engineering Teachers, Postsecondary | $105,810 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Erie, PA
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | $21,550 |
| Cooks, Short Order | $22,450 |
| Bartenders | $22,730 |
| Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other | $23,390 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $23,450 |
| Dishwashers | $26,300 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $26,430 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $26,540 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $27,060 |
| Home Health and Personal Care Aides | $27,860 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in PA
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside PA. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($54,263 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the lower price level do to Erie, PA wage reading? ▼
What is the highest paying job in Erie, PA? ▼
What jobs pay the least in Erie, PA? ▼
Which federal tables feed Erie, PA's wage and price figures? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Erie, PA wage figures in a real decision
- Family Medicine Physicians leads published medians in Erie, PA at $277,880/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Family Medicine Physicians
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $54,263 adjusts to about $59,662 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 91.0. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for PA before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.