State College, PA Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in State College, PA - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in State College, PA moved from $50,250 in May 2024 to $49,220 in May 2025 (-2.0%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- State College, PA sits -5.2 pp behind that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Fast Food and Counter Workers shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in State College, PA
Fast Food and Counter Workers publishes $27,790 here versus $31,200 nationally (-10.9%; 2,320metro-area jobs).
- Fast Food and Counter Workers$27,790 in State College, PA sits 10.9% below the national Fast Food and Counter Workers median of $31,200 (2,320 published local jobs).
Fast Food and Counter Workers and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for State College, PA; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 44300 · State College, PA $57K mean
MEAN-LOW · RPP-MID · OCC-MID · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-BEHIND · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-MOST
- MEAN-LOW #304/528
- RPP-MID 96.8
- OCC-MID 237 occs
- TOP-LEAD Chief Executives · $204K
- EMP-MIX Software Dev…
- TREND-BEHIND -5.2 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Charleston, WV
- BOOK-MOST 235 rows · May 2025
Read with Charleston, WV ($1 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 State College, PA
Employment scale inside State College, PA's top-pay list
Software Developers and Medical and Health Services Managers lead published employment inside State College, PA's top-pay sample — order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Software Developers 450 jobs · $103,620
- 2. Medical and Health Services Managers 320 jobs · $102,590
- 3. Computer and Information Systems Managers 260 jobs · $128,410
- 4. Financial Managers 260 jobs · $125,550
- 5. Managers, All Other 180 jobs · $105,580
- 6. Sales Managers 140 jobs · $109,200
- 7. Lawyers 140 jobs · $107,850
- 8. Facilities Managers 140 jobs · $104,440
- 9. Pharmacists 110 jobs · $135,010
- 10. Nurse Practitioners 110 jobs · $124,470
- 11. Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary 110 jobs · $123,640
- 12. Marketing Managers 90 jobs · $122,660
- 13. Construction Managers 90 jobs · $101,970
- 14. Physician Assistants 80 jobs · $128,480
- 15. Industrial Production Managers 80 jobs · $103,700
- 16. Chief Executives 70 jobs · $203,960
- 17. Architectural and Engineering Managers 70 jobs · $150,520
- 18. Dentists, General 60 jobs · $168,340
Occupations Tracked
237
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$56,666
employment-weighted, 235 complete rows
Top Salary
$203,960
Chief Executives
Cost of Living
96.8
3% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in State College, PA
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chief Executives | $203,960 |
| 2 | Dentists, General | $168,340 |
| 3 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $150,520 |
| 4 | Pharmacists | $135,010 |
| 5 | Veterinarians | $131,500 |
| 6 | Physician Assistants | $128,480 |
| 7 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $128,410 |
| 8 | Human Resources Managers | $127,570 |
| 9 | Financial Managers | $125,550 |
| 10 | Nurse Practitioners | $124,470 |
| 11 | Education Administrators, Kindergarten through Secondary | $123,640 |
| 12 | Natural Sciences Managers | $122,930 |
| 13 | Marketing Managers | $122,660 |
| 14 | Computer Network Architects | $112,410 |
| 15 | Sales Managers | $109,200 |
| 16 | Chemists | $107,890 |
| 17 | Lawyers | $107,850 |
| 18 | Managers, All Other | $105,580 |
| 19 | Facilities Managers | $104,440 |
| 20 | Industrial Production Managers | $103,700 |
| 21 | Software Developers | $103,620 |
| 22 | Labor Relations Specialists | $103,460 |
| 23 | Medical and Health Services Managers | $102,590 |
| 24 | Construction Managers | $101,970 |
| 25 | Administrative Services Managers | $99,590 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in State College, PA
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $22,130 |
| Shuttle Drivers and Chauffeurs | $27,490 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $27,790 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $27,920 |
| Cashiers | $28,090 |
| Manicurists and Pedicurists | $28,100 |
| Bartenders | $28,100 |
| Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers | $28,720 |
| Dishwashers | $28,950 |
| Cooks, Fast Food | $29,020 |
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 ($56,666 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
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.