Scranton, PA
Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Scranton ranks 230th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 216th for income. A household earns $68,079 a year while median rent runs $1,072/mo, making it expensive relative to what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 6% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is health (45th of 300), while affordability is the soft spot (230th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 70th and home prices 47th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Scranton, your take-home is worth about $63,076 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 216th of 300↑25.4%$68,079
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 131st of 30094 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $72,768
- Per-capita income
- $38,510
- Full-time pay
- $42,335
Housing
- Median rent
- 70th of 300↑34.3%$1,072/mo
- Home value
- 47th of 300↑51.7%$215,400
- Property tax
- $2,660/yr · 1.2%
- Sales tax
- 6.34%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 164th of 3004.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 223rd of 30028%
- Avg commute
- 104th of 30023.1 min
People
- Population
- 574,009
- Population change
- +3.6%
- Median age
- 42.1 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 9.9%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 68th of 30040
- Natural-hazard loss
- 141st of 300$12/$10k
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Rent
- + Home prices
- + Air quality
- + Health
Watch-outs
- – Affordability
- – Household income
- – Education
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — wilkes-barre/scranton intl ap.
What jobs pay in Scranton
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $297,430
- IT managers
- $135,700
- Pharmacists
- $130,950
- Financial managers
- $124,920
- Software developers
- $119,960
- Lawyers
- $100,420
- Civil engineers
- $95,730
- General & operations managers
- $93,820
- Registered nurses
- $82,650
- Elementary school teachers
- $76,590
- Secondary school teachers
- $75,050
- Web developers
- $74,960
- Police officers
- $72,210
- Accountants & auditors
- $70,480
- Electricians
- $69,540
- Plumbers
- $61,160
- Carpenters
- $60,240
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $57,580
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $49,710
- Construction laborers
- $48,290
- Customer service reps
- $42,010
- Janitors
- $36,570
- Retail salespersons
- $30,020
- Waiters & waitresses
- $29,770
- Cashiers
- $28,380
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Scranton metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Pennsylvania are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- New York5,209
- New Jersey3,054
- Florida805
- Maryland684
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Scranton
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Scranton metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Scranton metro?
- Median gross rent across the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA Metro Area is $1,072 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Scranton.
- What is the median household income in the Scranton metro?
- A typical household in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA Metro Area earns $68,079 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Scranton expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA Metro Area runs about 6% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Scranton metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $72,768 (versus its face value of $68,079). CityLedger rates the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA Metro Area expensive for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Scranton metro?
- The median home value across the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA Metro Area is $215,400 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Scranton metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA Metro Area is 4.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).