State College, PA
State College, PA Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole State College, PA Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, State College ranks 156th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 140th for income. A household earns $77,110 a year while median rent runs $1,189/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 3% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (7th of 300), while home prices is the soft spot (177th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 130th and home prices 177th 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 State College, your take-home is worth about $60,986 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
- 140th of 300↑27%$77,110
- 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.
- 176th of 30097 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $79,690
- Per-capita income
- $39,689
- Full-time pay
- $34,504
Housing
- Median rent
- 130th of 300↑19.5%$1,189/mo
- Home value
- 177th of 300↑29.8%$339,200
- Property tax
- $3,363/yr · 1%
- Sales tax
- 6.34%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 164th of 3004.6%
- Bachelor's+
- 24th of 30047.4%
- Avg commute
- 39th of 30020.9 min
People
- Population
- 159,805
- Population change
- -1.6%
- Median age
- 34.4 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 8.3%
- Broadband
- 85.5%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 68th of 30040
- Natural-hazard loss
- 7th of 300$6/$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
- + Education
- + Commute
- + Air quality
- + Hazard safety
- + Health
Watch-outs
- —
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — clearfield lawrence ap.
What jobs pay in State College
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Pharmacists
- $135,010
- IT managers
- $128,410
- Financial managers
- $125,550
- Lawyers
- $107,850
- Software developers
- $103,620
- Civil engineers
- $96,110
- Web developers
- $91,300
- General & operations managers
- $91,120
- Registered nurses
- $81,480
- Elementary school teachers
- $76,760
- Secondary school teachers
- $73,250
- Accountants & auditors
- $73,040
- Police officers
- $70,510
- Electricians
- $57,600
- Plumbers
- $57,560
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $56,130
- Carpenters
- $55,690
- Construction laborers
- $53,420
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $48,420
- Customer service reps
- $42,590
- Janitors
- $35,850
- Waiters & waitresses
- $35,280
- Retail salespersons
- $29,240
- Cashiers
- $28,090
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 State College 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 York1,531
- New Jersey1,219
- California785
- Maryland575
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like State College
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
State College metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the State College metro?
- Median gross rent across the State College, PA Metro Area is $1,189 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of State College.
- What is the median household income in the State College metro?
- A typical household in the State College, PA Metro Area earns $77,110 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is State College expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the State College, PA Metro Area runs about 3% 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 State College metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $79,690 (versus its face value of $77,110). CityLedger rates the State College, PA Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the State College metro?
- The median home value across the State College, PA Metro Area is $339,200 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the State College metro?
- The unemployment rate in the State College, PA Metro Area is 4.6% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).