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Medical Assistants salary in Reading, PA

Median pay for medical assistants in Reading, PA: $41,600/yr

Typical range (10th–90th percentile): $36,320 – $52,040 · about 720 employed locally

Above the typical metro median ($39,165) by +$2,435 (+6%).

What it's really worth in Reading

With Reading's cost of living at 96 (US=100), that $41,600 has the buying power of about $43,124 in an average-cost US metro.

Local context: median household income $74,617 · median home $312,348 · median rent $1,505/mo.

Full Reading cost of living & taxes →

How Reading ranks for this job

On raw pay, Reading, PA is 62nd of the 186 metros we hold medical assistants wages for. Once Reading's cost of living is applied, it ranks 55th.

Pay and living costs are roughly in step here, so Reading sits in much the same place whether you look at raw salary or spending power.

What that salary buys in Reading

A median home in Reading, PA costs $312,348 — about 7.5× this salary, against a typical US metro figure of 4.7×. Buying is harder here than in the average metro on this income.

Median rent of $1,505/mo works out at 43% of gross pay — above the conventional 30% affordability ceiling, so renting would stretch this salary.

Where medical assistants earn more

Pay on its own is only half the picture, so each row shows what rent costs there relative to Reading.

MetroMedian payvs ReadingRent vs Reading
Vallejo, CA $74,750 +80% 1.6×
San Jose, CA $60,500 +45% 2.4×
San Francisco, CA $59,770 +44% 2.2×
Sacramento, CA $59,520 +43% 1.5×

Same job elsewhere in PA

MetroMedian payvs ReadingRent vs Reading
Philadelphia, PA $44,700 +7% 1.3×
Allentown, PA $39,530 −5% 1.2×
Harrisburg, PA $39,470 −5%
Lancaster, PA $38,260 −8%

Staying in PA keeps state income tax and licensing the same, which makes these the most directly comparable moves.

Other jobs in Reading

Source: US BLS OEWS (May 2023) median annual wage; cost of living from BEA; home price and rent from Zillow; household income from US Census ACS. Rankings are across the 186 metros we hold wage data for in this occupation. Estimates for guidance only. See methodology.