GaudiLab // Shutterstock
1 / 50#50. Personal financial advisors
- Median annual wage: $81,380
- Median hourly wage: $39.13
- Total employment: 100 people (0.84 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Highest-paying jobs in Erie
Despite recession fears and falling consumer confidence, the job market in the United States has remained relatively stable in 2025 thus far. According to May 2025 Bureau of Labor Statistics data, around 177,000 new jobs were added in April, a slight decrease from the 185,000 new jobs added in the month before, but an extension of the country's 52-month streak of job growth. Unemployment rates also held relatively steady between April 2024 and April 2025, coming in at around 4%.
Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean Americans have it easy in the workplace. A December 2024 Payscale report found that nearly half (47%) of business organizations struggle to balance fair pay practices with spend optimization, and 18% plan to reduce pay increases in 2025 as a result.
For context, median weekly earnings across all employees in the U.S. stood at $1,194 in the first quarter of 2025. This represents an increase of 4.8% from a year prior and exceeds the Consumer Price Index's 2.7% increase in the same time period. However, there's one caveat: Earnings go much further in some places than in others.
In fact, the very definition of a "high-paying" job varies by location, as well as other factors such as industry and benefits. Even a six-figure salary may be considered low-income in places with an unusually high cost of living. Meanwhile, technology, finance, and health care jobs lead in terms of salary, but benefits like remote work can make other lower-paying jobs more desirable.
Regardless, anyone seeking a high-paying job should start by looking at the numbers. Stacker used BLS data to find the 50 highest-paying jobs in Erie. Jobs are ranked by their median annual pay as of May 2024, so any jobs without annual compensation figures available were excluded from this analysis.
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fizkes // Shutterstock
2 / 50#49. General and operations managers
- Median annual wage: $82,390
- Median hourly wage: $39.61
- Total employment: 2,710 people (22.69 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
3 / 50#48. Nursing instructors and teachers, postsecondary
- Median annual wage: $82,420
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 90 people (0.77 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
4 / 50#47. Engineers, all other
- Median annual wage: $82,670
- Median hourly wage: $39.75
- Total employment: 60 people (0.54 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Rido // Shutterstock
5 / 50#46. Social workers, all other
- Median annual wage: $83,550
- Median hourly wage: $40.17
- Total employment: 70 people (0.58 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
6 / 50#45. Industrial engineers
- Median annual wage: $83,970
- Median hourly wage: $40.37
- Total employment: 420 people (3.55 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
7 / 50#44. Management analysts
- Median annual wage: $84,990
- Median hourly wage: $40.86
- Total employment: 220 people (1.81 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Arjuna Kodisinghe // Shutterstock
8 / 50#43. Network and computer systems administrators
- Median annual wage: $85,400
- Median hourly wage: $41.06
- Total employment: 170 people (1.4 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
ABO PHOTOGRAPHY / Shutterstock
9 / 50#42. Speech-language pathologists
- Median annual wage: $87,670
- Median hourly wage: $42.15
- Total employment: 140 people (1.17 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
ABO PHOTOGRAPHY // Shutterstock
10 / 50#41. Occupational therapists
- Median annual wage: $88,220
- Median hourly wage: $42.41
- Total employment: 160 people (1.35 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Bannafarsai_Stock // Shutterstock
11 / 50#40. Construction managers
- Median annual wage: $88,260
- Median hourly wage: $42.43
- Total employment: 70 people (0.62 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
creativemarc // Shutterstock
12 / 50#39. Administrative services managers
- Median annual wage: $91,700
- Median hourly wage: $44.09
- Total employment: 70 people (0.62 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Aykut Erdogdu // Shutterstock
13 / 50#38. Physical therapists
- Median annual wage: $91,870
- Median hourly wage: $44.17
- Total employment: 230 people (1.93 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
wutzkohphoto // Shutterstock
14 / 50#37. Civil engineers
- Median annual wage: $92,730
- Median hourly wage: $44.58
- Total employment: 110 people (0.96 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Krakenimages.com // Shutterstock
15 / 50#36. Education administrators, kindergarten through secondary
- Median annual wage: $93,620
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: Not available
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pio3 // Shutterstock
16 / 50#35. Police and sheriff's patrol officers
- Median annual wage: $94,290
- Median hourly wage: $45.33
- Total employment: 610 people (5.12 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
17 / 50#34. Clinical and counseling psychologists
- Median annual wage: $94,680
- Median hourly wage: $45.52
- Total employment: 100 people (0.84 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
18 / 50#33. Project management specialists
- Median annual wage: $95,180
- Median hourly wage: $45.76
- Total employment: 470 people (3.96 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
19 / 50#32. Medical and health services managers
- Median annual wage: $95,680
- Median hourly wage: $46.00
- Total employment: 530 people (4.41 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
goodluz // Shutterstock
20 / 50#31. Transportation, storage, and distribution managers
- Median annual wage: $95,970
- Median hourly wage: $46.14
- Total employment: 110 people (0.89 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
21 / 50#30. Education administrators, postsecondary
- Median annual wage: $96,150
- Median hourly wage: $46.23
- Total employment: 120 people (1.01 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Matej Kastelic // Shutterstock
22 / 50#29. Business teachers, postsecondary
- Median annual wage: $97,500
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 100 people (0.81 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Roman Samborskyi // Shutterstock
23 / 50#28. Software developers
- Median annual wage: $98,480
- Median hourly wage: $47.34
- Total employment: 360 people (2.99 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Sunshine Seeds // Shutterstock
24 / 50#27. Industrial production managers
- Median annual wage: $101,050
- Median hourly wage: $48.58
- Total employment: 260 people (2.14 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
SpeedKingz // Shutterstock
25 / 50#26. Managers, all other
- Median annual wage: $101,280
- Median hourly wage: $48.69
- Total employment: 220 people (1.87 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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N.Z.Photography // Shutterstock
26 / 50#25. Computer occupations, all other
- Median annual wage: $101,700
- Median hourly wage: $48.90
- Total employment: 120 people (1.03 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
27 / 50#24. Mechanical engineers
- Median annual wage: $103,850
- Median hourly wage: $49.93
- Total employment: 570 people (4.75 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Nicola Forenza // Shutterstock
28 / 50#23. Lawyers
- Median annual wage: $104,300
- Median hourly wage: $50.15
- Total employment: 260 people (2.2 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Prath // Shutterstock
29 / 50#22. Detectives and criminal investigators
- Median annual wage: $105,020
- Median hourly wage: $50.49
- Total employment: 100 people (0.83 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
30 / 50#21. Electrical engineers
- Median annual wage: $106,150
- Median hourly wage: $51.03
- Total employment: 180 people (1.52 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
31 / 50#20. Health specialties teachers, postsecondary
- Median annual wage: $106,580
- Median hourly wage: Not available
- Total employment: 160 people (1.34 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Zivica Kerkez // Shutterstock
32 / 50#19. Veterinarians
- Median annual wage: $106,600
- Median hourly wage: $51.25
- Total employment: 70 people (0.57 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Jacob Lund // Shutterstock
33 / 50#18. Human resources managers
- Median annual wage: $107,800
- Median hourly wage: $51.83
- Total employment: 110 people (0.94 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Tyler Olson // Shutterstock
34 / 50#17. First-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers
- Median annual wage: $108,580
- Median hourly wage: $52.20
- Total employment: 40 people (0.35 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kanghophoto // Shutterstock
35 / 50#16. Financial managers
- Median annual wage: $109,120
- Median hourly wage: $52.46
- Total employment: 460 people (3.87 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Ground Picture // Shutterstock
36 / 50#15. First-line supervisors of police and detectives
- Median annual wage: $112,590
- Median hourly wage: $54.13
- Total employment: 100 people (0.85 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Stokkete // Shutterstock
37 / 50#14. Physician assistants
- Median annual wage: $112,720
- Median hourly wage: $54.19
- Total employment: 140 people (1.21 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
dokurose // Shutterstock
38 / 50#13. Sales managers
- Median annual wage: $112,960
- Median hourly wage: $54.31
- Total employment: 260 people (2.16 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Kzenon // Shutterstock
39 / 50#12. Optometrists
- Median annual wage: $119,990
- Median hourly wage: $57.69
- Total employment: 50 people (0.44 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
fizkes // Shutterstock
40 / 50#11. Marketing managers
- Median annual wage: $120,620
- Median hourly wage: $57.99
- Total employment: 110 people (0.9 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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Monkey Business Images // Shutterstock
41 / 50#10. Nurse practitioners
- Median annual wage: $122,130
- Median hourly wage: $58.71
- Total employment: 240 people (2.01 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Frame Stock Footage // Shutterstock
42 / 50#9. Computer and information systems managers
- Median annual wage: $126,520
- Median hourly wage: $60.83
- Total employment: 290 people (2.43 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
43 / 50#8. Computer network architects
- Median annual wage: $130,000
- Median hourly wage: $62.50
- Total employment: 50 people (0.39 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Drazen Zigic // Shutterstock
44 / 50#7. Pharmacists
- Median annual wage: $130,680
- Median hourly wage: $62.83
- Total employment: 250 people (2.05 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
rawpixel.com // Shutterstock
45 / 50#6. Purchasing managers
- Median annual wage: $131,160
- Median hourly wage: $63.06
- Total employment: 40 people (0.33 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
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BOY ANTHONY // Shutterstock
46 / 50#5. Architectural and engineering managers
- Median annual wage: $148,880
- Median hourly wage: $71.58
- Total employment: 160 people (1.3 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock
47 / 50#4. Chief executives
- Median annual wage: $177,440
- Median hourly wage: $85.31
- Total employment: 150 people (1.26 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
Prostock-studio // Shutterstock
48 / 50#3. Dentists, general
- Median annual wage: $186,060
- Median hourly wage: $89.45
- Total employment: 50 people (0.42 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
LightField Studios // Shutterstock
49 / 50#2. Nurse anesthetists
- Median annual wage: $204,690
- Median hourly wage: $98.41
- Total employment: 100 people (0.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
PeopleImages.com - Yuri A // Shutterstock
50 / 50#1. Family medicine physicians
- Median annual wage: $225,490
- Median hourly wage: $108.41
- Total employment: 100 people (0.8 of every 1,000 jobs in the area)
This story features data reporting by Wade Zhou, writing by Cu Fleshman, and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 364 metros.
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