Lancaster, PA

Across all occupations in the Lancaster, PA metropolitan area, the median wage is $48,210 a year ($23.18 an hour) and the mean $59,620, May 2025. That median is −5% against the US median of $50,980 and −3% against Pennsylvania's $49,690. BLS counts 252,230 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is cardiologists; the largest is retail salespersons.

All occupations: Lancaster, PA vs Pennsylvania and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Lancaster, PA area, Pennsylvania and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Lancaster, PA	Hourly	$13.74	$17.59	$23.18	$33.77	$47.85	$28.66	252,230
Lancaster, PA	Annual	$28,570	$36,580	$48,210	$70,230	$99,530	$59,620	252,230
Pennsylvania	Hourly	$13.91	$17.64	$23.89	$37.63	$56.66	$31.60	6,064,600
Pennsylvania	Annual	$28,920	$36,690	$49,690	$78,270	$117,860	$65,730	6,064,600
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

434 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: Pennsylvania. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Lancaster, PA

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Cardiologists	$503,970	$242.29	50
2	Family Medicine Physicians	$294,800	$141.73	110
3	Chief Executives	$224,160	$107.77	260
4	Physicians, All Other	$211,250	$101.56	**
5	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$147,020	$70.68	290
6	Database Architects	$146,400	$70.39	40
7	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Pennsylvania	$142,460	$68.49	530
8	Dentists, General	$141,960	$68.25	170
9	Pharmacists	$134,320	$64.58	450
10	Financial Managers in Pennsylvania	$134,280	$64.56	950
11	Nurse Practitioners	$133,940	$64.39	350
12	Computer Network Architects	$133,350	$64.11	110
13	Veterinarians	$132,480	$63.69	180
14	Optometrists	$132,360	$63.64	60
15	Sales Managers in Pennsylvania	$129,480	$62.25	810
16	Human Resources Managers	$128,050	$61.56	270
17	Lawyers in Pennsylvania	$125,510	$60.34	520
18	Marketing Managers	$124,850	$60.03	340
19	Physician Assistants	$124,070	$59.65	340
20	Purchasing Managers	$121,570	$58.45	100

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Lancaster, PA

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Retail Salespersons in Pennsylvania	7,400	29.35	1.17	$30,280
2	General and Operations Managers in Pennsylvania	6,990	27.72	1.23	$98,810
2	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Pennsylvania	6,990	27.72	1.00	$29,150
4	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Pennsylvania	6,870	27.26	1.10	$28,580
5	Stockers and Order Fillers in Pennsylvania	5,860	23.25	1.28	$36,400
6	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Pennsylvania	5,730	22.72	1.20	$42,440
7	Registered Nurses in Pennsylvania	5,640	22.34	1.03	$89,620
8	Cashiers in Pennsylvania	5,280	20.94	1.05	$28,680
9	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Pennsylvania	5,080	20.14	1.52	$58,350
10	Office Clerks, General in Pennsylvania	4,330	17.16	1.08	$44,540
11	Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Pennsylvania	3,990	15.82	1.75	$46,530
12	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Pennsylvania	3,680	14.60	1.03	$35,690
13	Waiters and Waitresses in Pennsylvania	3,520	13.95	0.95	$32,190
14	Customer Service Representatives in Pennsylvania	3,440	13.62	0.82	$44,290
15	Nursing Assistants in Pennsylvania	3,380	13.40	1.44	$44,890
16	Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive in Pennsylvania	2,960	11.74	1.07	$46,270
17	Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products in Pennsylvania	2,790	11.05	1.39	$64,180
18	Carpenters in Pennsylvania	2,750	10.89	2.53	$55,690
19	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in Pennsylvania	2,520	10.01	1.02	$49,650
20	Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators in Pennsylvania	2,380	9.43	1.89	$50,050

Most concentrated occupations in Lancaster, PA

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals	8.09	430	1.71	$36,670
2	Furniture Finishers	4.36	100	0.41	$47,600
3	Cabinetmakers and Bench Carpenters	4.23	530	2.10	$46,850
4	Brickmasons and Blockmasons	4.11	350	1.39	$63,430
5	Farm Equipment Mechanics and Service Technicians	4.05	250	0.99	$53,290
6	Food Batchmakers	3.52	1,000	3.96	$41,650
7	Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing	3.38	340	1.34	$45,830
8	Print Binding and Finishing Workers	2.82	150	0.60	$47,600
9	Structural Metal Fabricators and Fitters	2.74	230	0.92	$49,390
10	Extruding and Drawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Metal and Plastic	2.73	270	1.07	$46,400

Occupation groups in Lancaster, PA

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$103,590	$121,590	16,280	64.53	0.90
Computer and Mathematical	$83,110	$91,770	3,480	13.79	0.41
Legal	$82,560	$106,030	1,050	4.17	0.50
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$81,890	$96,560	16,520	65.51	1.04
Architecture and Engineering	$80,830	$89,020	3,440	13.65	0.81
Business and Financial Operations	$75,620	$82,960	11,710	46.44	0.69
Educational Instruction and Library	$63,710	$65,050	11,620	46.08	0.79
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$62,430	$70,650	2,950	11.68	1.23
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$59,590	$60,090	11,130	44.15	1.13
Construction and Extraction	$58,580	$62,410	13,430	53.25	1.29
Community and Social Service	$52,060	$58,160	4,470	17.73	1.03
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$51,260	$60,120	2,890	11.46	0.87
Production	$47,940	$51,110	23,280	92.29	1.68
Protective Service	$47,430	$57,570	3,160	12.53	0.52
Office and Administrative Support	$46,290	$48,350	25,980	102.99	0.90
Transportation and Material Moving	$44,810	$46,180	28,450	112.79	1.28
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$38,690	$40,920	960	3.82	1.36
Healthcare Support	$37,500	$38,080	13,250	52.54	1.03
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$37,300	$39,090	7,660	30.39	1.04
Sales and Related	$36,490	$48,300	23,040	91.33	1.06
Personal Care and Service	$34,890	$38,380	5,450	21.61	1.03
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$30,340	$33,670	22,010	87.28	0.99

Every occupation in Pennsylvania, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 434 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Lancaster, PA estimates (area 29540).

**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Lancaster, PA area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.