Elevator Maintenance recruiters serving Philadelphia.
Philadelphia has 21% more elevator and escalator installers and repairers per job than the country as a whole, about 540 in the metro. BLS counts 144 business locations of nonresidential building-equipment contractors across the metro. Below: local pay for every role we staff, the state licensing rules that apply and the nearby markets competing for the same people.
Positions we recruit for in Philadelphia.
BLS counts about 4,420 people working in the occupations behind these roles across the Philadelphia metro, the largest group being construction and building inspectors (about 2,900). Relative to the size of the local economy, elevator and escalator installers and repairers are more concentrated here than nationally (location quotient 1.21). Local headcount and pay for each role are below; role descriptions are on the Elevator Maintenance hub.
Elevator Mechanic / Installer
Sample job description →Philadelphia: 540 employed · $132,640 median, 13th-highest of 49 metros
Elevator Service Technician
Elevator Maintenance Technician
QEI-Certified Inspector
Philadelphia: 2,900 employed · $75,710 median, 40th-highest of 112 metros
Escalator Technician
Elevator Modernization Technician
Elevator Project Manager
Philadelphia: 3,390 employed · $124,990 median, 26th-highest of 111 metros
Elevator Service Dispatcher / Coordinator
Philadelphia: 3,430 employed · $51,170 median, 29th-highest of 111 metros
Elevator Estimator
Philadelphia: 4,190 employed · $79,880 median, 39th-highest of 111 metros
Elevator Controls / Electronics Technician
Philadelphia: 980 employed · $76,320 median, 39th-highest of 107 metros
What Elevator Maintenance roles earn in Philadelphia.
Elevator and escalator installers and repairers in Philadelphia earn a median $132,640, 21% over the $109,910 national figure, and 13th of 49 metros. Pay runs $80,040 at the tenth percentile to $159,860 at the ninetieth. The best-paid role below is electrical and electronics repairers, commercial and industrial equipment, at $76,320 against $74,090 nationally.
| Role | Philadelphia median | Typical range | National median | vs. national | Employed locally |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Elevator Mechanic / Installer · Elevator Service Technician · Elevator Maintenance TechnicianElevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers (47-4021) | $132,640 | $80,040–$159,860 | $109,910 | +21% | 540 |
| QEI-Certified InspectorConstruction and Building Inspectors (47-4011) | $75,710 | $50,440–$106,130 | $74,690 | +1% | 2,900 |
| Elevator Project ManagerConstruction Managers (11-9021) | $124,990 | $84,010–$204,560 | $114,990 | +9% | 3,390 |
| Elevator Service Dispatcher / CoordinatorDispatchers (43-5032) | $51,170 | $36,600–$76,360 | $50,340 | +2% | 3,430 |
| Elevator EstimatorCost Estimators (13-1051) | $79,880 | $55,190–$131,320 | $78,740 | +1% | 4,190 |
| Elevator Controls / Electronics TechnicianElectrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment (49-2094) | $76,320 | $47,260–$105,700 | $74,090 | +3% | 980 |
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Philadelphia metro. Range is 10th to 90th percentile; management and office roles are metro-wide. A metro ranking counts only the metros where BLS publishes that occupation.
How Philadelphia's elevator maintenance market has changed since 2018.
Philadelphia lost nonresidential building-equipment contractors between 2018 and 2023, from 146 business locations to 144 (down 1%), behind the 8% growth nationally. Headcount and pay for those firms are withheld in Philadelphia, so the occupation figures above are the better guide to what hiring costs.
| Measure | 2018 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nonresidential building-equipment contractors: business locations | 146 | 144 | −1% |
| Nonresidential building-equipment contractors: employment | 1,759 | – | – |
| Nonresidential building-equipment contractors: average annual pay | $94,105 | – | – |
BLS Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private employers, annual averages. A dash means BLS did not publish the figure.
Free Elevator Maintenance hiring resources.
Definitive Guide to Elevator Maintenance · 2026 Elevator Maintenance Salary Guide · 3-Step Interview Guide for Elevator Maintenance
Philadelphia runs 21% more elevator maintenance workers per job than the country as a whole — above the national concentration. More per job means more people to reach, and more employers reaching them.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, Elevator and Escalator Installers and Repairers. Metro-wide figures for the base occupation; the wage table above is role-specific and commercial.
How Philadelphia's elevator maintenance market compares
Among the 47 metros we cover with published BLS figures, Philadelphia ranks 5th for headcount, 13th for median pay and 23rd for concentration for elevator and escalator installers and repairers.
| Metro | Employed | Median pay | Concentration | Commercial employers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | 540 | $132,640 | 1.21 | 144 |
| Pittsburgh | 140 | $121,920 | 0.80 | 46 |
| Allentown-Bethlehem | – | – | – | 28 |
| Harrisburg | – | – | – | 11 |
| Lancaster | – | – | – | 14 |
| Scranton | – | – | – | 17 |
BLS OEWS occupation figures and QCEW business-location counts; a dash means not published.
What this means for hiring:For elevator maintenance employers in Philadelphia, the local pool is deeper than most, so a well-run search can usually fill field roles from inside the metro.
Sources: BLS QCEW 2023 annual averages and BLS OEWS May 2025, Philadelphia metro. Employers are counted by business location.
Elevator Maintenance licensing in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania does not license elevator mechanics or elevator contracting companies at state level. The Department of Labor and Industry has sole jurisdiction over the construction and use of elevators and lifting devices anywhere in the state under the Uniform Construction Code, and regulates the equipment through plan review, permits, acceptance inspections and periodic inspections. What the Department does certify is the inspection side: third-party agencies must be certified, and the UCC Elevator Inspector category requires passing the Qualified Elevator Inspector test and submitting a valid QEI card. Philadelphia, often assumed to have its own elevator trade license, lists none among its Licenses and Inspections trade licenses, so screen on apprenticeship and employer history instead. The same state rules apply in Pittsburgh, Allentown-Bethlehem, Harrisburg, Lancaster and Scranton, so candidates licensed there can work in Philadelphia without re-qualifying. The Philadelphia metro crosses a state line, so check the rules in the neighboring state too for crews that work on both sides.
Licensing authority: Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry, Bureau of Occupational and Industrial Safety, Elevator Division (34 Pa. Code Chapters 401 and 405). Confirm current rules with the agency.
We have not closed an elevator maintenance search in Philadelphia yet. Here is what we have closed.
These are other trades in the same market. We would rather show you the searches we have actually run in Philadelphia than imply a record in this trade that we do not have yet.
- HVAC Service TechnicianA residential service technician for the King of Prussia and Philadelphia territory, coordinated around his relocation.
- Residential HVAC Service TechnicianFive days, and the technician brings test-and-balance expertise on top of service.
- Senior HVAC Service TechnicianA technician comfortable with whatever a building throws at him, not only the HVAC.
Nearby markets competing for Philadelphia talent.
The closest metro we cover is Allentown-Bethlehem, about 50 miles away. Pay is close across the region: medians run from $122,690 in Baltimore to $136,000 in New York, against $132,640 here. New York has the deepest pool within reach, so a search for senior roles here usually extends there.
| Metro | Distance | Employed | Median pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | – | 540 | $132,640 |
| Allentown-Bethlehem | 48 mi | – | – |
| Lancaster | 61 mi | – | – |
| New York | 81 mi | 3,270 | $136,000 |
| Baltimore | 90 mi | 400 | $122,690 |
| Harrisburg | 94 mi | – | – |
BLS OEWS, May 2025; straight-line miles.
What else is competing for Philadelphia crews.
Not elevator maintenance work. These are the capital projects big enough to pull the same crews into Philadelphia in the months you are trying to fill a seat, each with the status its own market page reports.
- CHOP Roberts Children's Health Tower$2.59BOpening late 2028
CHOP's active tower expansion is the real current driver of hospital-grade mechanical demand - medical gas, isolation rooms, and OR HVAC in tight supply. (Penn Medicine's Pavilion, sometimes bundled into this figure, is a separate, already-completed $1.6B project from 2021 - kept out of this total since it's no longer an active build.)
- PHL Airport Terminal modernization (Transform PHL)$2B total program ($1B terminal-specific)Underway, no published completion date
Terminal expansion + concourse upgrades. Airport-grade MEP.
- University expansion (UPenn, Drexel, Temple)$2B+ aggregatedThrough 2028
Research lab construction (fume hood air, specialty exhaust). Student housing + academic building expansion.
Showing 3 of 5 projects tracked in this metro. The Philadelphia market page lists them all.
What credentials matter for elevator maintenance, and what kills offers in Philadelphia.
The 4 credentials that gate the work and the 4 things that most often end an elevator maintenance offer are the same in every market, kept in one place: Elevator Maintenance credentials and offer risks, each linked to the body that issues it. What is local is the licensing rule above and the pay further up this page.
Frequently asked - Elevator Maintenance hiring in Philadelphia.
What do elevator and escalator installers and repairers earn in Philadelphia?
BLS puts the Philadelphia median for elevator and escalator installers and repairers at $132,640 a year, 21% above the $109,910 national median. That ranks 13th of 49 metros with published figures, in the middle of the pack. Most of the market sits between $80,040 and $159,860, a 2.0x gap and a moderate spread, so a few thousand dollars over the median buys real experience. No other Pennsylvania metro we cover pays more for this work (Pittsburgh: $121,920).
Is it hard to hire elevator and escalator installers and repairers in Philadelphia?
Not by national standards. Elevator and escalator installers and repairers make up 21% more of the Philadelphia workforce than they do nationally, about 540 people.
Which elevator maintenance roles pay the most in Philadelphia?
Of the roles we recruit for, Elevator Mechanic / Installer pays the most in Philadelphia, a $132,640 median. QEI-Certified Inspector is the lowest-paid field role at $75,710. Relative to national pay, Elevator Mechanic / Installer is the strongest-paying role here (21% above).
How many nonresidential building-equipment contractors operate in Philadelphia?
BLS counted 144 nonresidential building-equipment contractors in Philadelphia in 2023. That is roughly where the count stood in 2018 (146). BLS withholds their combined headcount and pay here, which it does when a category is small enough that the figures could identify individual employers. BLS counts elevator contractors under nonresidential building-equipment contractors.
Which nearby metros compete with Philadelphia for elevator and escalator installers and repairers?
The closest metros we cover with published figures are New York (81 miles, about 3,270, $136,000 median), Baltimore (90 miles, about 400, $122,690 median) and Washington, D.C. (124 miles, about 400, $122,260 median). New York has the larger pool, so it is the first place to look for senior people willing to move. Philadelphia out-pays Baltimore and Washington, D.C., an advantage when recruiting from there.
Plenty of people. Few of them looking.
Philadelphia has one of the deeper pools of elevator and escalator installers and repairers we cover, but the best of them are already working. Let's find the ones ready to move.
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