Reading, PA Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Reading, PA - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Reading, PA moved from $48,210 in May 2024 to $49,440 in May 2025 (+2.6%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Reading, PA sits -0.5 pp behind that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Home Health and Personal Care Aides shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Reading, PA
Home Health and Personal Care Aides publishes $29,830 here versus $35,800 nationally (-16.7%; 5,820metro-area jobs). Next is Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand at $46,040 locally versus $40,240 nationally (+14.4%).
- Home Health and Personal Care Aides$29,830 in Reading, PA sits 16.7% below the national Home Health and Personal Care Aides median of $35,800 (5,820 published local jobs).
- Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand$46,040 in Reading, PA sits 14.4% above the national Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand median of $40,240 (5,280 published local jobs).
- Waiters and Waitresses$30,760 in Reading, PA sits 12.7% below the national Waiters and Waitresses median of $35,230 (2,060 published local jobs).
- Cashiers$29,260 in Reading, PA sits 11.0% below the national Cashiers median of $32,880 (3,670 published local jobs).
Home Health and Personal Care Aides and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Reading, PA; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 39740 · Reading, PA $60K mean
MEAN-MID · RPP-MID · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-MID #203/528
- RPP-MID 97.1
- OCC-MID 398 occs
- TOP-LEAD Chief Executives · $230K
- EMP-MIX Financial Ma…
- TREND-INLINE -0.5 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Fond du Lac, WI
- BOOK-FULL 395 rows · May 2025
Read with Fond du Lac, WI ($35 on published-row mean) · Highest-paying careers
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 Reading, PA
Employment scale inside Reading, PA's top-pay list
Financial Managers and Software Developers lead published employment inside Reading, PA's top-pay sample — order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Financial Managers 760 jobs · $133,900
- 2. Software Developers 640 jobs · $120,920
- 3. Sales Managers 540 jobs · $129,230
- 4. Industrial Production Managers 450 jobs · $118,830
- 5. Lawyers 440 jobs · $125,830
- 6. Computer and Information Systems Managers 420 jobs · $148,550
- 7. Nurse Practitioners 310 jobs · $135,390
- 8. Architectural and Engineering Managers 260 jobs · $159,720
- 9. Pharmacists 240 jobs · $143,210
- 10. Human Resources Managers 220 jobs · $128,310
- 11. Marketing Managers 210 jobs · $127,920
- 12. Physician Assistants 190 jobs · $130,160
- 13. Construction Managers 160 jobs · $115,480
- 14. Chief Executives 140 jobs · $229,740
- 15. Dentists, General 120 jobs · $151,850
- 16. Education Administrators, Postsecondary 110 jobs · $114,260
- 17. Veterinarians 100 jobs · $133,110
- 18. Computer Network Architects 80 jobs · $117,860
Occupations Tracked
398
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$59,772
employment-weighted, 395 complete rows
Top Salary
$229,740
Chief Executives
Cost of Living
97.1
3% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Reading, PA
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chief Executives | $229,740 |
| 2 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $159,720 |
| 3 | Dentists, General | $151,850 |
| 4 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $148,550 |
| 5 | Pharmacists | $143,210 |
| 6 | Optometrists | $139,400 |
| 7 | Nurse Practitioners | $135,390 |
| 8 | Financial Managers | $133,900 |
| 9 | Commercial Pilots | $133,240 |
| 10 | Veterinarians | $133,110 |
| 11 | Physician Assistants | $130,160 |
| 12 | Sales Managers | $129,230 |
| 13 | Human Resources Managers | $128,310 |
| 14 | Marketing Managers | $127,920 |
| 15 | Purchasing Managers | $127,290 |
| 16 | Database Architects | $126,370 |
| 17 | Lawyers | $125,830 |
| 18 | Nurse Midwives | $124,470 |
| 19 | Software Developers | $120,920 |
| 20 | Engineers, All Other | $118,870 |
| 21 | Industrial Production Managers | $118,830 |
| 22 | Public Relations Managers | $117,980 |
| 23 | Computer Network Architects | $117,860 |
| 24 | Construction Managers | $115,480 |
| 25 | Education Administrators, Postsecondary | $114,260 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Reading, PA
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $24,140 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $27,050 |
| Library Assistants, Clerical | $27,130 |
| Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | $27,270 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $27,330 |
| Dishwashers | $27,650 |
| Protective Service Workers, All Other | $27,920 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $28,090 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $28,190 |
| Bartenders | $28,260 |
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 ($59,772 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
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Related federal data
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.