Fast food cooks, mayor, family doctors: What do workers in the Poconos earn?

Labor Day in the Poconos marks the end of summer with events such as StroudFest and the Greene Dreher Sterling Fair.

It’s also a time to consider the workers who make the Poconos run. Here’s a look at what we make, what the biggest industries are and how a few residents feel about their finances as we turn toward fall.

The average annual wage in the Pocono Counties Workforce Development Area ― Carbon, Monroe, Pike and Wayne counties ― across all occupations is $49,730, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry. That’s lower than the statewide average of $58,470.

Biggest industries in the Poconos

In Monroe and Pike counties, the largest shares of workers are in the accommodation and food services sector, which includes jobs at hotels, RV parks, bars and restaurants, among other key roles in a tourism-dependent economy. Statewide, 7.6% of Pennsylvanians are employed in this category, far outpaced by 17.3% in Monroe and 19.9% in Pike, as of the fourth quarter of 2022.

Health care and social assistance jobs lead the way in Carbon (19.3%) and Wayne (16.1%) counties. These figures are closer to the state total of 18.1%.

In all four counties, retail trade employed the second-most residents: Carbon, 13.4%; Monroe, 15.7%, Pike, 18.9%; and Wayne, 15.5%.

More: Americans are demanding more: Desired salary for new jobs now nearly $79,000

'It's still a struggle'

In 2021, the Poconos had an 11.6% poverty rate, according to the 2023 Economic Scorecard presented at East Stroudsburg University’s annual Economic Outlook Summit. That was lower than Pennsylvania (12%) and the U.S. (12.8%).

But as the United Way points out in its A.L.I.C.E. (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) reports, a person can be employed and have an income above the federal poverty level, yet make too little to cover basic expenses.

In all four counties, the A.L.I.C.E. rate was more than twice the poverty rate in 2021: Carbon, 35% A.L.I.C.E. vs. 14% poverty; Monroe, 25% vs. 11.3%; Pike, 29% vs. 8.8%; and Wayne, 37% vs. 12.6%.

Even at incomes above the A.L.I.C.E. zone, factors like daycare costs and inflation mean that it can be hard to get ahead. Without inflation, “a lot more people would be fine,” said Stroudsburg Mayor Michael Moreno.

Moreno doesn’t have children, but he knows people who are raising children on higher incomes than his own. “They make more than me and it’s still a struggle, because daycare is so expensive,” he said.

Moreno’s day job managing the Entrepreneurial Leadership Center at East Stroudsburg University earns him $67,500, according to PennWATCH data. As mayor, he receives $3,000, according to borough ordinances.

Although he got “a significant pay increase” when he started working at ESU, Moreno still works another job he’s had since college, “slinging boats at Chamberlain Canoes on the river,” and sometimes he’ll drive for DoorDash.

“The jobs in the Poconos seem to be low-paying service jobs that really will not allow someone to live,” said Eric Gates, who spent decades in software and hardware technical support before losing his job in 2020.

He applied to more than 200 jobs last year, and currently delivers auto parts for $11 an hour. “My wife and I cannot survive on that,” he said. It’s a part-time job that seems more suited for retirees supplementing Social Security, he said, but he’s at least 11 years from retiring.

It’s tough for younger workers too, according to 23-year-old Brianna Bailey. She owns a cleaning business and serves breakfast and lunch at a restaurant on the weekends. While she's thankful that her parents are “there to help in a way,” getting ahead is difficult.

Rising prices have “caused an extreme heavy pressure on young adults like me,” she said. Her goal is to buy a house, “but after year after year of saving I feel as if it is going nowhere. It’s not easy at all being this young and can’t even make ends meet to pay rent.” Plus, would-be homeowners in the Poconos are in competition with people who buy houses to list on Airbnb, and she believes those left on the market need more restoration work.

She’s not the only young adult experiencing this. “One of the biggest challenges we’re seeing for our young folks today is to be able to afford property, afford buying a house,” Wayne County Commissioner Brian Smith said in a video update given by commissioners from the four counties at ESU’s summit.

What do people earn in the Poconos?

Here’s a look at average income in 25 random occupations in the Poconos, according to May 2022 data from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry:

• Family medicine physicians: $233,430

• Veterinarians: $125,720

• Optometrists: $122,530

• Human resources managers: $121,610

• Computer network architects: $114,890

• Chemical engineers: $95,010

• Project management specialists: $83,610

• Elementary school teachers: $73,850

• Electricians: $60,980

• Tool and die makers: $54,970

• Postal service mail carriers: $52,210

• Paralegals and legal assistants: $50,190

• Highway maintenance workers: $46,340

• Supervisors – retail sales workers: $47,190

• Mental health and substance abuse social workers: $45,320

• Graphic designers: $46,450

• Butchers and meat cutters: $39,810

• Pharmacy technicians: $34,740

• Hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists: $33,970

• Physical therapist aides: $30,920

• Lifeguards, ski patrol and other recreational protective service: $29,230

• Hotel, motel and resort desk clerks: $29,720

• Childcare workers: $25,640

• Amusement and recreation attendants: $25,660

• Cooks, fast food: $23,750

This article originally appeared on Pocono Record: A Labor Day look at what incomes workers around PA's Poconos earn