Salary Check: Here’s How Much You Really Should Be Earning in Philly

New salary guides show what Philly employees should earn and how much employers should pay to recruit top talent.

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Staffing firm Robert Half recently released a deluge of information on salaries. That means, if you have no idea what you should earn or why you even earn what you earn, the new salary guides might be a good place to start.

And the guides work for employers, too. If you’re a hiring manager, a key part of attracting the best people is paying them well. As the pay transparency debate heats up, with pay secrecy increasingly labeled a negative, it might do you some good to really know how much your competitors pay. 

Robert Half’s compensation data, which is used by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, is based on placements made by the company’s recruiting and staffing professionals across the U.S. and an analysis of demand for the role, the supply of talent and other market conditions. The guides feature average starting pay for jobs in the following industries: tech, accounting and finance, law, administration, and the creative group.

This year’s research also organizes the starting compensation data by percentile and is even adjusted by market. For Philadelphia, salaries are 15 percent higher than the national average, compared to Austin’s 8 percent increase or New York’s 40 percent increase above the national average.

According to the information, here’s what workers are paid to start in Philly:

Tech
TITLE50th Percentile
STARTING SALARY
Chief Information Officer (CIO) $267,806
Chief Technology Officer (CTO) $201,250
Director of Technology $162,150
Cloud Computing Analyst $106,375
Mobile Applications Developer $162,150
IT Auditor $126,212
Big Data Engineer $172,500
Data Scientist $136,850
Data Analyst/Report Writer $110,400
Web Developer $112,700
Front-End Web Developer $83,662
Software Engineer $139,150
Cable Technician $46,575

The Creative Group

Title50th Percentile
STARTING SALARIES
Creative Director $119,600
Art Director $95,737
Graphic Designer $62,100
Illustrator/
Infographics
Designer
$60,950
Photographer$57,500
User Experience (UX) Designer $106,950
Video Producer $84,812
Video Editor $71,875
Copy Writer $76,475
Ad Agency-
Account Manager
$71,587
Marketing Director $117,875
Social Media Manager $67,850
Vice President of Public Relations $131,675
PR Manager $91,425
PR/
Communications Specialist
$64,687


Legal
TITLE50th Percentile
STARTING SALARIES
First-Year Associate $78,200
Lawyer- Law Firm
(4-9 years’ exp.)
$116,437
Lawyer- Law Firm
(2-3 years’ exp.)
$101,775
General Counsel- Corporate $192,050
In-house Counsel $125,350
Paralegal Manager $97,750
Midlevel Paralegal $69,000
Case Clerk $49,450
Compliance Director $135,700
Compliance Analyst
(1-3 years’ exp.)
$80,500
Contract Administration
(4-6 years’ exp.)
$76,475
Litigation Support/
eDiscovery Manager
(3-6 years’ exp.)
$100,050

Accounting and Finance
TITLE50th Percentile
STARTING SALARIES
Chief Financial Officer$221,375
Controller$132,250
Senior Financial Analyst $92,000
Financial Analyst
(1-3 Years)
$74,750
Business Intelligence Analyst
(1-3 Years)
$81,650
Tax Accountant
(1 to 3 years)
$79,350
Senior Budget Analyst $92,000
Forensic Accountant $103,500
Assistant Credit Manager $66,700
Compliance Analyst $92,000
Medical Billing Manager $69,000

Administration
TITLE50th Percentile
STARTING SALARIES
Senior Executive Assistant $69,000
Executive Assistant $59,800
Sales Assistant $40,250
Facilities Manager $70,150
Proofreader$51,750
Senior Data Entry
Specialist
$35,937
Receptionist$32,200
Customer Service Manager $50,600
Call Center Manager $57,500
HR Benefits Specialist $51,750
Medical Insurance Authorization Clerk $40,250

For a look at hundreds of other positions and salaries across all percentiles and other markets, find the full reports here.