The local economy of Pennsylvania and its counties, metro areas and cities, from official US government data, plus daily local gas prices for the state, its counties and metro areas.
Unemployment rate
3.7%
-0.7 ptsvs a year ago
Counties: lowest Centre County 3.0%, highest Cameron County 5.8%.
August 2026, seasonally adjusted, preliminary
Average weekly pay
$1,550
+3.3%vs a year ago
6,002,061 jobs at 394,057 business locations.
Q1 2026, all jobs
New homes permitted
25,848
+2.1%this year vs last year
Most in Philadelphia County 4,668, Allegheny County 3,232.
Homes in the last 12 months, to August 2026
People moving in
-15,939
-1.5 per 1,000residents
203,138 moved in and 219,077 moved out. Most newcomers came from New York.
Net people, 2022 to 2023, the newest year published
Pennsylvania gas price
$4.45
+$1.17vs a year ago
Counties: lowest Franklin County $4.18, highest Crawford County $4.71. Counties and metro areas
Regular, per gallon, Pennsylvania, October 9, 2026
Newest data: -. Not seasonally adjusted: compare with the same month a year earlier. Click a row for the history of that area.
The state, its counties and metro areas, updated daily. A separate series from the weekly survey prices above.
Business locations, employees and payroll by industry, 2023. Click an industry for its US report.
Business locations
307K
-0.2%vs 2022
2023, places with paid employees
Employees
5.71M
+2.3%vs 2022
Largest sector: Health Care and Social Assistance (20.0%).
2023, mid-March
Annual payroll
$363.9B
Wages and salaries paid during the year.
2023, all industries
Average pay
$63,690
Highest sector: Utilities $121,344.
Per employee per year
Share of Pennsylvania's employees, 2023
| Industry | Employees | Average pay |
|---|---|---|
| Restaurants and Other Eating Places | 364,990 | $20,987 |
| General Medical and Surgical Hospitals | 285,344 | $72,458 |
| Management of Companies and Enterprises | 219,919 | $115,036 |
| Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools | 179,792 | $53,899 |
| Individual and Family Services | 173,918 | $35,664 |
| Offices of Physicians | 143,556 | $109,899 |
| Employment Services | 132,494 | $52,545 |
| Grocery Stores | 132,025 | $24,537 |
| Warehousing and Storage | 92,955 | $51,293 |
| Insurance Carriers | 90,815 | $101,618 |
| General Merchandise Stores, including Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters | 89,515 | $28,100 |
| Home Health Care Services | 84,891 | $41,679 |
Most values are changed slightly to protect the privacy of single businesses; a few are withheld and shown as a range. Counties and metro areas have the same numbers in the area card above (Industries).
Cost, students and graduate earnings of the colleges in the state, from official public data.
The newest unemployment rate, pay, new home permits, moves and gas price for Pennsylvania, updated as new official numbers come out.
Unemployment for Pennsylvania is seasonally adjusted; for its counties, metro areas and cities it is not, so compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Pay covers all jobs that pay into unemployment insurance. Building permits count homes approved to be built, not homes sold. Moves count households by where they filed their tax returns in two years in a row. Daily gas prices are average pump prices for Pennsylvania, its counties and metro areas on the day shown. The weekly gas prices in the explorer come from a separate weekly survey that publishes a price for only some states, so a state without one shows the price of its region there; the two series are never combined.
The unemployment rate in Pennsylvania was 3.7% in August 2026 (seasonally adjusted, preliminary), compared with 4.4% a year earlier. 6,409,441 people were employed out of a labor force of 6,659,135. Among its counties, Centre County had the lowest rate (3.0%) and Cameron County the highest (5.8%, not seasonally adjusted).
Average weekly pay in Pennsylvania was $1,550 in Q1 2026, up 3.3% from a year earlier, across 6,002,061 jobs at 394,057 business locations.
Building permits were issued for 2,210 new homes in Pennsylvania in August 2026 (1,119 single-family and 974 in buildings with 5 or more units). From January to August the total was 17,259, up 2.1% from the same months last year, and 25,848 in the last 12 months. The most homes were permitted in Philadelphia County (4,668), Allegheny County (3,232), Montgomery County (2,058) over the last 12 months.
No, more people moved out than in. From 2022 to 2023, 203,138 people moved to Pennsylvania and 219,077 moved away, a net loss of 15,939 (-1.5 per 1,000 residents). Most newcomers came from New York, New Jersey, Florida, and most people who left went to Florida, New Jersey, New York.
Regular gasoline in Pennsylvania averaged $4.45 per gallon on October 9, 2026, up $1.17 from a year earlier. Diesel averaged $6.54. Among its counties, Franklin County had the lowest regular price ($4.18) and Crawford County the highest ($4.71).
Health Care and Social Assistance (1,142,207 employees), Retail Trade (650,539 employees), Manufacturing (564,394 employees) were the largest sectors in Pennsylvania in 2023. In all, 307,065 business locations employed 5,713,846 people at an average pay of $63,690 a year.