Philadelphia employers reported 3,146,800 payroll jobs in September 2026, an estimated 15,400 more than in September 2025.
Payroll jobs3,146,800September 2026 · Jobs at workplaces
Annual jobs change+15,400Compared with September 2025
Annual payroll growth+0.5%Compared with September 2025
Unemployment rate3.6%September 2026 · 1.2 percentage points lower than September 2025
BLS total nonfarm payroll · Not seasonally adjusted. Payroll counts jobs at workplaces; unemployment measures residents. These are different measures.
BLS does not mark this annual payroll change statistically significant at 90% confidence. This does not establish a statistically significant difference between metros.
Historical detail below: Census QWI 2025 Q3 · BLS OEWS May 2025 occupation estimates. Each source keeps its own date and coverage.
Historical workforce detail · Census QWI 2025 Q3
Hiring, worker flows and pay in Philadelphia
Census workforce data arrive with a publication lag. These findings compare 2025 Q3 with 2024 Q3 and do not describe later conditions. Open "How this was calculated" for the arithmetic.
Census recorded 3,062,969 jobs in the Philadelphia metro at the start of 2025 Q3, up 1.2% from the same quarter a year earlier. This is historical workforce detail from the latest complete Census quarter saved for this metro. QWI covers private employers and state and local government; federal jobs are excluded. Its job counts differ from monthly BLS payroll coverage.
Jobs, start of quarter3,062,969+1.2% vs. 2024 Q3
Hires in the quarter430,95814.1 per 100 jobs · -11.0% vs. 2024 Q3
Avg. monthly earnings$6,547Stable workers, nominal · +3.4% vs. 2024 Q3
Occupations with local data683BLS OEWS May 2025
JobsCensus QWI · 2024 Q3 to 2025 Q3
+1.2%
Jobs rose 1.2% from 2024 Q3 to 2025 Q3
Beginning-of-quarter employment was 3,062,969 in 2025 Q3, against 3,028,083 in 2024 Q3, a change of +34,886 jobs. That change was larger than in 40 of the 49 other covered metros with matching data for the same quarters.
How this was calculated
(3,062,969 - 3,028,083) / 3,028,083 = +1.2%. Same quarter, one year apart; all industries, all ownership, not seasonally adjusted.
Health care and social assistance had the largest job gain of any major industry
Health care and social assistance added 24,183 jobs (+4.0%) between 2024 Q3 and 2025 Q3, and holds 20.6% of metro jobs. 9 of 15 industries with at least 2% of metro jobs grew. One year-over-year comparison is not a trend.
How this was calculated
631,331 - 607,148 = +24183 jobs; ranked by absolute change among sectors with at least 2% of 2025 Q3 employment and published values in both quarters.
68% of comparable occupations have local medians above the U.S. median
Of 659 occupations with a published annual median both here and nationally, 451 have a higher local median, 205 a lower one and 3 the same. The largest such occupation, home health and personal care aides (158,280 jobs), has a median of $29,800 versus $35,800 nationally. Annual figures are published annualized OEWS wage estimates, not actual annual take-home pay; pay is nominal and not adjusted for cost of living.
How this was calculated
Above: 451/659 = 68.4%; below: 205/659 = 31.1%; equal: 3/659. Occupations with both metro and national annual medians published (top-coded or suppressed values excluded), OEWS May 2025.
Health care and social assistance is a larger part of the job base than in most covered metros
20.6% of jobs here are in health care and social assistance, compared with a median of 15.4% across 49 other covered metros in 2025 Q3, about 1.3 times the typical share.
How this was calculated
Sector employment / all-industry employment for 2025 Q3; compared with the median share of the same sector in the other covered metros with the same quarter. Only sectors with at least 3% of local jobs are considered.
14.1 hires per 100 jobs in 2025 Q3, at or below the comparison median
Employers recorded 430,958 hires during 2025 Q3 against 3,062,969 jobs at the start of the quarter. The median across 49 other covered metros was 15.8. This is a flow ratio, not a chance of being hired, and hires are not job openings.
Jobs changed +1.2% and hires -11.0% between the same quarter one year apart. During 2025 Q3 employers recorded 430,958 hires and 452,517 separations, a difference of -21,559. That difference is a flow measure and is not the same as the official change in employment.
Census QWI beginning-of-quarter employment, all industries, private employers and state and local government; federal jobs excluded. Not seasonally adjusted. The axis is truncated: bars start above zero to show change. Compare the same quarter across years because seasonal patterns repeat. The highlighted bar is 2025 Q3.Show as a table
Quarter
Employment
Hires
Separations
2023 Q1
2,932,012
393,450
381,757
2023 Q2
2,939,820
483,673
432,999
2023 Q3
2,993,025
465,544
471,716
2023 Q4
2,985,876
424,401
428,374
2024 Q1
2,980,640
361,954
359,468
2024 Q2
2,985,031
447,014
405,664
2024 Q3
3,028,083
484,423
493,291
2024 Q4
3,019,280
420,067
425,577
2025 Q1
3,013,021
351,047
351,890
2025 Q2
3,011,715
462,243
412,040
2025 Q3
3,062,969
430,958
452,517
Careers · BLS OEWS May 2025
Explore careers in Philadelphia
683 detailed occupations with local estimates, 661 with a published local median wage. Figures describe one survey reference period, not growth, openings or forecasts.
Try:
Showing 1 to 25 of 683 matching occupations. Local jobs are OEWS employment estimates; medians are for all workers in the occupation in this metro, compared with the U.S. median for the same occupation and pay basis.
BLS OEWS May 2025, Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area (CBSA 37980). Unknown values sort last.
Occupation
Local jobs
Annual median
Hourly median
vs. U.S. median
National context
Home health and personal care aides31-1120 · Healthcare support
Source: BLS OEWS May 2025 estimates for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD metro area (CBSA 37980), one survey reference period. They show levels, not growth, openings or forecasts.
Largest occupations by local jobs: home health and personal care aides (158,280), registered nurses (73,790), fast food and counter workers (69,080), general and operations managers (68,730), retail salespersons (63,990).
Medians are for all workers in the occupation in this metro. "vs. U.S." compares with the national median for the same occupation, same release and same pay basis. 659 occupations have published annual medians both here and nationally. 22 have no published local median.
Annual figures are published annualized OEWS wage estimates, not actual annual take-home pay. Pay is nominal and not adjusted for cost of living.
Some occupations are paid and published on an hourly or annual basis only; the other column then says so rather than showing a converted figure.
"Not released" means BLS did not publish that local estimate. 4 occupations have a median above the BLS reporting ceiling, shown as such rather than as a number. Nothing is filled in or treated as zero.
"U.S. profile" links open national data for the occupation, not Philadelphia figures.
Compare metros
How Philadelphia compares with similar metros
Monthly payroll comparison · September 2026
All payroll rows compare September 2026 with September 2025 from the same BLS release, not seasonally adjusted. These are the same suggested peers used in the quarterly profiles. Estimates do not establish statistically significant differences between metros.
Payroll measures jobs at workplaces. Unemployment rates measure residents and are shown only when a validated estimate matches the same month and metro.
Historical comparison · Census QWI 2025 Q3
Quarterly hiring, jobs and earnings
Every metro in this historical table uses 2025 Q3 and 2024 Q3, from one saved Census release. Monthly payroll comparisons above use a separate BLS source and are not combined with these measures.
Showing Philadelphia with Atlanta, Washington, DC, Miami. Default: the 3 covered metros closest in total employment (Atlanta, Washington, DC, Miami).
Choose metros (3 of 49 selected)
Census QWI, 2025 Q3 compared with 2024 Q3 for Philadelphia and selected metros.
Census QWI, 2025 Q3 compared with 2024 Q3 for every metro. Hires per 100 jobs is hires during the quarter divided by beginning-of-quarter employment, times 100: a flow ratio, not a chance of being hired. Earnings are average monthly earnings of stable workers, nominal, not adjusted for cost of living.
Suggested peers are the covered metros closest in total QWI employment (smallest ratio difference) for the same quarter. Differences of a few tenths of a point are within normal revision and should not be read as a ranking.
By industry · Census QWI 2025 Q3
Industries behind the numbers
Hires are a count of hires made during the quarter, not unique people or job openings. A large count reflects industry size and turnover.
Largest job gains, 2024 Q3 to 2025 Q3
Health care and social assistance+24,183 jobs+4.0%
Accommodation and food services+4,307 jobs+1.9%
Administrative and support and waste management+3,962 jobs+2.0%
Largest job declines, 2024 Q3 to 2025 Q3
Management of companies and enterprises-2,725 jobs-3.9%
Manufacturing-1,696 jobs-0.9%
Professional, scientific, and technical services-1,574 jobs-0.6%
Show all 20 industry sectors
Census QWI NAICS sectors, private employers and state and local government; federal jobs excluded. Not seasonally adjusted. Change compares 2025 Q3 with 2024 Q3, the same quarter a year earlier. Not published = not published for every state portion or no matching prior-year quarter. Sectors do not add exactly to the total.
Industry
Employment
Share of jobs
Employment change, 1 yr
Hires
Hires change, 1 yr
Avg. monthly earnings
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
11,393
0.4%
-0.4%
1,949
-2.8%
$3,987
Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction
Not published
Not published
Not published
Not published
Not published
Not published
Utilities
16,032
0.5%
+1.0%
823
-10.2%
$10,854
Construction
134,047
4.4%
+1.4%
20,273
-2.5%
$7,617
Manufacturing
177,450
5.8%
-0.9%
13,120
+2.0%
$7,889
Wholesale trade
116,449
3.8%
-0.6%
9,137
-6.9%
$9,056
Retail trade
291,557
9.5%
+0.1%
48,955
-1.5%
$3,791
Transportation and warehousing
135,059
4.4%
+2.7%
23,773
+10.6%
$5,433
Information
57,374
1.9%
-1.9%
7,103
+33.7%
$11,144
Finance and insurance
184,503
6.0%
-0.1%
9,880
-82.5%
$10,313
Real estate and rental and leasing
42,820
1.4%
+0.4%
4,065
-4.8%
$6,857
Professional, scientific, and technical services
247,915
8.1%
-0.6%
22,072
-0.7%
$10,872
Management of companies and enterprises
66,270
2.2%
-3.9%
5,171
-5.7%
$11,034
Administrative and support and waste management
197,759
6.5%
+2.0%
50,244
-1.5%
$4,683
Educational services
264,156
8.6%
+1.5%
33,161
-7.0%
$5,850
Health care and social assistance
631,331
20.6%
+4.0%
86,160
-0.6%
$5,718
Arts, entertainment, and recreation
71,754
2.3%
+0.0%
16,479
-2.1%
$5,193
Accommodation and food services
230,835
7.5%
+1.9%
56,923
-0.8%
$2,472
Other services (except public administration)
104,541
3.4%
-1.0%
14,309
-21.3%
$4,241
Public administration
81,007
2.6%
+1.8%
7,274
-1.3%
$6,441
Sources and limits
Where these numbers come from
Monthly BLS payroll estimates cover September 2026. Census workforce detail covers 2025 Q3, and the wage survey covers OEWS May 2025. Each source retains its own observation period, coverage and publication dates. None is a real-time measure.
BLS monthly metro estimates
Current Employment Statistics (CES) total nonfarm payroll employment. Jobs at workplaces, not unique people, job openings or forecasts. Compare the same month one year apart because these estimates are not seasonally adjusted.
Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) measures unemployment among residents of the metro. Its rate is shown separately from workplace payroll employment.
U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Quarterly Workforce Indicators. Jobs, hires, separations and earnings by industry for private employers and state and local government. Federal jobs are excluded.
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. Employment and wages by occupation for Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD.
Monthly payroll estimates measure nonfarm jobs at workplaces, not hiring events, job openings or resident employment. Annual changes are estimates, may be revised and do not establish acceleration or statistically significant differences between metros.
Hires are not job openings and not your odds of being hired. We make no claim about layoffs, AI or other causes behind any change.
Census QWI covers private employers and state and local government; federal jobs are excluded. Its data typically run about three quarters behind publication. This report uses the latest complete saved quarter, 2025 Q3; any newer partial measures are not substituted for the complete quarterly package.
QWI earnings are averages for workers who held the same job all quarter, before taxes, in nominal dollars. They are not salary offers and are not adjusted for cost of living.
BLS OEWS figures (OEWS May 2025) describe one survey reference period. They show levels, not growth, and are a different period from the QWI quarter, so the two are never combined into one measure.
BLS does not release some local estimates; they appear as "Not released", and wages above its reporting ceiling appear as such rather than as a number. None is filled in or treated as zero.
Census publishes this metro as separate DE and MD and NJ and PA portions; QWI values here are their sum. BLS OEWS publishes the whole metro directly.
Single-quarter swings in an industry can reflect employer reclassification or reporting changes. Compare several quarters before drawing conclusions.