In Philadelphia, an inclusive economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will require a robust increase in jobs—particularly in positions that pay enough to sustain a family and that have historically been available to people without college degrees.
This report from the Pew Charitable Trusts explores the pandemic’s impact on the city’s economy. Specifically, it shows that job losses sustained in Philadelphia were heavily concentrated in industry sectors that pay low and middle wages—and those losses hit Black, female, and non-college-educated workers the hardest. Employment locally also continues to recover more slowly than nationally, with the number of jobs in the city still well below pre-pandemic levels as of July 2022.
To help local policymakers and civic leaders keep a close eye on the middle of the wage distribution, the report details the specific occupations paying middle wages in Philadelphia, explores their growth prospects, and compares Philadelphia’s performance with that of five other cities and their broader metropolitan areas: Baltimore, Nashville, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. These comparison cities were selected because they share characteristics with Philadelphia and have municipal boundaries compatible with the methodology used for this analysis.
To learn more, read the report online.