Pittsburgh Job and Salary Outlook

The recent Pittsburgh job outlook is better now than it has been in several years. The Pittsburgh job outlook is improved because of the addition of at least 1000 Pittsburgh jobs by existing employer Westinghouse, as well as increased growth by companies such as Medrad, Heinz, and UPMC. But how does the Pittsburgh job and salary outlook compare with the rest of the nation?

Interestingly, when you consider the background of our region's employees, the Pittsburgh job and salary outlook should be much better than the nation as a whole. Pittsburghers are more educated than the average American. According to data taken from the 2005 American Community Survey completed by the U.S. Census Bureau, 32.8% of Pittsburghers are college graduates (versus the national average of 27.2%) and 91.1% of Pittsburghers are high school graduates (versus the national average of 84.2%). 67.7% of Pittsburghers are in "professional" or "office" jobs (versus the national average of 60%). Pittsburghers are older than the average American, and thus have more work experience.

However, even with all of this talent, experience, and responsibility, the median earnings of Pittsburgh-area workers are significantly less than the national average - median earnings for Pittsburghers was $61,620 (versus the national average of $63,834). As the Pittsburgh job outlook improves, the Pittsburgh salary outlook is not keeping up with the national average. Potential reasons for pay discrepancy between Pittsburgh & the national average include that the cost of living in Pittsburgh is lower than the national average and that many Pittsburgh jobs (with hospitals, universities, and banks) are lower-paying.

So, even if you can find a Pittsburgh job, you may not be getting paid what you would be in another part of the country to do a similar job. The good news is that many new Pittsburgh jobs that are being added by Westinghouse are highly paid, with average salaries ranging between $70,000 and $80,000. Hopefully, this will trigger other employers to "up the ante" and add additional higher paying Pittsburgh jobs.

In any case, as a region, Pittsburghers have wondered why our young people continue to leave Pittsburgh and have explored many ways to encourage people to stay. However, maybe the answer is that we expect our highly skilled workforce to take a pay cut in order to remain in Pittsburgh. If this is true, then the Pittsburgh job and salary outlook may not be as favorable as is hoped.