Professor Salary in Reading, PA: Median $57,936 in 2026
Reading (PA) · COL index 90 · Unemployment 4.4% · Metro pop 420,000 · Rank #203 of 283 for Professor salary
A Professor in Reading earns an estimated median of $57,936 per year. That figure starts from the Pennsylvania state-level BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics median[1]($62,700) and scales it by Reading's composite cost-of-living index of 90 (US = 100). The 10th percentile comes in around $27,545; the 90th percentile reaches $97,050. After federal, Pennsylvania state, and FICA taxes, a single-filer Professor takes home approximately $46,901/year — about $3,908/month or $1,804 every other week.
Compared to the national Professor median of $84,380, Reading pays -31.3%. Relative to the Reading median household income of $48,500, a Professorsalary runs +19.5%. Local unemployment is 4.4%[3], with an estimated 254 annual Professor openings inferred from metro population share and national employment (1,348,900).
Professor Snapshot — Reading (2026)
Every row cites a primary public dataset. Rent + home values use Zillow where the metro is in the ZHVI/ZORI coverage set; otherwise ACS + census tract fallbacks.
| Metric | Reading | National | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professor median salary | $57,936 | $84,380 | [1] |
| 10th percentile | $27,545 | $57,600 | [1] |
| 90th percentile | $97,050 | $168,920 | [1] |
| Annual take-home (single filer) | $46,901 | — | [8][10] |
| Median home value (ZHVI) | $306,725 | — | [5] |
| Median rent (ZORI) | $1,478/mo | — | [5] |
| HUD Fair Market Rent (2BR) | $1,350/mo | — | [6] |
| Median household income (ACS) | $77,684 | — | [7] |
| Cost-of-living index | 90.0 | 100.0 | [4] |
| Unemployment rate | 4.4% | — | [3] |
How Professor Salaries Work in Reading
City-level wages aren't published directly by BLS for most SOC codes. We build them by anchoring to the Pennsylvania state-level OEWS median ($62,700) and scaling by Reading's composite cost-of-living index (90)[1][4]. That index combines Census ACS rent, Zillow ZHVI, BLS CPI, and AdvisorSmith / ApartmentAdvisor inputs to produce one number per metro. When BLS publishes a separate metro-level wage (MSA-level OEWS), that takes priority — a handful of large metros including New York, LA, Chicago, and DC have this coverage.
On top of the gross wage, the standard US payroll stack applies: federal income tax using 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction[8], FICA (Social Security 6.2% up to $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45%)[9], and Pennsylvania state income tax at a 3.1% effective rate ($1,779/yr on the $57,936 median)[10].
Reading also sits inside a larger metro labor market where commute patterns, remote-work policies, and adjacent-metro wages compete. Near-national unemployment means a balanced market — employers and candidates negotiate from roughly equal positions. Median household income in the metro is $77,684, which frames what "a good Professor salary" means locally: a $$57,936 wage pays about 75% of the median household income on a single earner.
The deterministic identity: take_home = gross − federal − state − FICA − pre_tax. All math runs client-side; nothing is sent to our servers.
Cost of Living Breakdown — Reading
Estimated annual expense shares on a $46,901 take-home, using BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey baseline shares scaled to Reading's COL index of 90. Housing uses the actual median rent.
BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares[1], scaled by Reading's COL index of 90[4]. Housing uses actual median rent of $1,050/month.
Salary vs Housing Affordability in Reading
Renting
Buying
At $3,908/mo take-home, the 30% rent rule caps housing at $1,172/mo. Reading's typical 1–2BR rent runs $1,478/mo[5] (HUD 2BR FMR: $1,350/mo), making rent very affordable on a median Professor salary. For homebuyers, the 3.4× price-to-income ratio is comfortable — a median {p.title} salary supports the median home in {city.name} well inside standard lender DTI caps.
How Reading Stacks Up for Professors
Against 283 major US cities: Reading ranks #203 for nominal Professor salary, #103 for rent affordability, and #88 for overall purchasing power. High cost of living absorbs much of Reading's nominal wage premium. Professors here often trade pay for lifestyle, proximity to employers, or family roots — consider nearby metros on a salary-to-COL basis.
Nearby Cities — Professor Salary Comparison
Reading's closest metros, scaled by each city's cost-of-living index. Useful for relocation decisions where commute or remote-work policies allow a neighboring metro trade-off.
| City | Est. salary | COL | Rent | vs PA |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reading, PA ★ | $57,936 | 90 | $1,050 | — |
| Philadelphia, PA | $85,224 | 101 | $1,350 | +47.1% |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $76,786 | 91 | $1,295 | +32.5% |
| Allentown, PA | $82,692 | 98 | $1,200 | +42.7% |
| Harrisburg, PA | $76,786 | 91 | $1,100 | +32.5% |
| Scranton, PA | $71,723 | 85 | $1,000 | +23.8% |
Professor Job Market in Reading
Reading has an estimated 254 annual Professoropenings, extrapolated from the metro's share of 1,348,900 national Professors[1]. The 4.4% unemployment rate[3] is near the national average, with steady turnover across most sectors.
About the profession: Postsecondary teachers (professors) teach academic and vocational subjects at colleges and universities. Salary varies greatly by institution type, discipline, and tenure status. Typical entry requirement: doctoral degree. Projected growth through 2034: 8%[2].
Career Progression & Related Professions in Reading
Early-career Professors in Reading start around $27,545, reach the city median ($57,936) after 4–8 years, and hit 90th-percentile territory ($97,050) at senior / specialized levels.
Related education professions in Reading
Calculators for Professors in Reading
Other professions in Reading
Frequently Asked Questions — Professor in Reading
How much does a Professor make in Reading, PA?
The estimated median salary for a Professor in Reading is $57,936/year, scaled from the BLS OEWS Pennsylvania state median ($62,700) by Reading's composite cost-of-living index of 90 (US = 100). After federal, Pennsylvania state, and FICA taxes, take-home is approximately $46,901/year or $3,908/month.
Can a Professor afford to live in Reading?
On $3,908/month take-home, the 30% rent rule affords $1,172/month. Reading's Zillow ZORI median rent is $1,478/mo, HUD's 2BR Fair Market Rent is $1,350/mo. The rent-to-income ratio works out to 21.7%, making housing very affordable for a Professor at the local median. Home-buyers face 3.4× price-to-income, needing roughly 3.4 years to save a 20% down payment at a 20% savings rate.
How much tax does a Professor pay in Reading?
On $57,936 gross, a Professor in Reading pays approximately $4,824 in federal income tax (8.3% effective), $1,779 in Pennsylvania state income tax (3.1% effective), and $4,432 in FICA (Social Security + Medicare). Total effective rate: 19.0%. Some Pennsylvania cities levy local income taxes in addition; check your municipal DoR before filing.
How does Reading rank for Professor salaries vs other cities?
Reading ranks #203 out of 283 tracked metros for nominal Professor salary, #103 for rent affordability (rent-to-income), and #88 for purchasing power (salary ÷ COL). The high-purchasing-power cities tend to be mid-size metros with strong local employers and moderate housing costs; the low-ranked cities trade high nominal pay for steep rents.
What is the cost-of-living breakdown for a Professor in Reading?
On $46,901 take-home, a reasonable baseline budget for Reading looks like: housing $12,600/yr (26.9%); food $5,290/yr; transportation $4,503/yr; healthcare $3,185/yr; utilities $2,228/yr; savings + discretionary $19,095/yr. Numbers use BLS Consumer Expenditure Survey shares scaled to Reading's COL index of 90 and the city's actual median rent.
What's the Professor job market like in Reading?
Reading's unemployment rate is 4.4% across the metro of 420,000. Estimated annual Professor openings: ~254 (extrapolated from 1,348,900 nationally employed and the metro's population share). The market is near national averages with steady turnover.
Do Reading employers pay above or below the Pennsylvania median for Professors?
Not consistently — Reading's estimated Professor median of $57,936 is 31.3% below the national median. The trade-off is usually lower rents and (in some cases) lower state taxes, which can leave real purchasing power competitive.
Methodology — How we compute this page
Wage estimate. The Reading median is derived from the Pennsylvania state-level BLS OEWS median ($62,700), scaled by Reading's composite cost-of-living index of 90. When BLS publishes a direct MSA-level wage for the occupation, that takes priority over the scaled state median. Percentile bands inherit the same scale factor.
Housing + rent. Median home value uses Zillow ZHVI; median rent prefers Zillow ZORI and falls back to Census ACS median gross rent. HUD Fair Market Rents (50th-percentile 2BR) are shown where HUD publishes the metro. Price-to-income and rent-to-income ratios use the estimated Professormedian (not the city's overall median household income) — to reflect the specific role-vs-city affordability picture.
Tax math. Federal tax uses 2025 IRS brackets and the $15,000 single standard deduction. FICA is Social Security 6.2% up to the $176,100 wage base + Medicare 1.45% (+ 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000). State tax uses Pennsylvania's 2026 brackets from the state DoR (mirrored via Tax Foundation where the DoR's publication is paywalled or split). Local income taxes (e.g. NYC, Portland-OR supplemental, OH municipal) are NOT included — check your municipal authority for specifics.
Cost of living. The 90index is the composite used by CalcFi's /data/cities.ts, which merges Census ACS, BLS CPI shelter, Zillow ZORI, and commercial COL estimators. The COL-adjusted salary on this page assumes the statewide RPP = 97.4(BEA) approximates the state's purchasing power; cities are then scaled relative to that.
Refresh cadence. BLS OEWS releases annually (typically March); BEA RPP releases annually in December; IRS brackets adjust in October; Zillow ZHVI/ZORI updates monthly; HUD FMR publishes annually in August for the upcoming fiscal year. The dateModified shown above auto-bumps to the most recent retrievedAt on any sourced value the page consumes.
Known limits. Metro-level OEWS coverage is partial — only ~50 large MSAs have separately published occupation wages; the rest inherit state-level estimates scaled by COL. Rent and home data may trail the real-time market by 1–3 months (Zillow) or 8–12 months (ACS). Rankings are capped to the city set in our dataset (283 metros), not every incorporated US city.
Sources
Every number on this page cites a primary public dataset. Last reviewed (auto-bumped on the next ISR refresh after an ETL run).
- BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) — state-level occupational wages — www.bls.gov/oes. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Employment Projections — 2024–34 occupational growth rates — www.bls.gov/emp. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- BLS Local Area Unemployment Statistics — metro-level unemployment rate — www.bls.gov/lau. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Bureau of Economic Analysis — Regional Price Parities (state + metro) — www.bea.gov/data/prices-inflation/regional-price-parities-state-and-metro-area. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Zillow Research — ZHVI (home value index) + ZORI (observed rent index) — www.zillow.com/research/data. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- HUD Fair Market Rents — 50th-percentile 2-bedroom FY — www.huduser.gov/portal/datasets/fmr.html. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- U.S. Census Bureau — American Community Survey (ACS) 5-year estimates, metro level — www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Internal Revenue Service — Federal individual income tax brackets and standard deductions — www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/about-publication-17. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Social Security Administration — OASDI / Medicare contribution and wage-base rules — www.ssa.gov. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
- Pennsylvania Department of Revenue — 2026 individual income tax brackets (accessed via Tax Foundation mirror) — taxfoundation.org/data/all/state/state-income-tax-rates. Retrieved 2026-04-19.
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