New York vs. Philadelphia
Registered Nurses. Median, spread and buying power, side by side.
Data released May 2025
BLS OEWS · SOC 29-1141
Fig. 1 — Side by side
Both distributions, one scale
10th to 90th percentile, median struck in red
Table 1 — Adjusted
New York's median is 15.5% higher — but after local prices, New York still leads by 7.2%.
New York's median $119,720 buys $106,400 at national prices (price parity 112.6); Philadelphia's $101,180 buys $98,700 (102.6).
Table 2 — The figures
Point by point
Published percentiles for both metros; the last column is Philadelphia against New York.
| New York | Philadelphia | Δ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment | 197,740 | 73,790 | −62.7% |
| 10th percentile | $87,180 | $79,160 | −9.2% |
| 25th percentile | $103,970 | $90,190 | −13.3% |
| Median | $119,720 | $101,180 | −15.5% |
| 75th percentile | $133,230 | $112,970 | −15.2% |
| 90th percentile | $159,240 | $121,900 | −23.4% |
Sources
How this page was made
- Wage data
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 release. Public domain.
- Price parity
- Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.
- Full pages
- Registered Nurses in New York · Registered Nurses in Philadelphia
Percentiles are reported exactly as released. Derived (price-adjusted) figures round to the nearest hundred. We take no payment for how any figure is presented.