The county economy from official statistics, with source and year on every table.
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By AtiveSite · Published 07/11/2026 · Updated 07/11/2026 · Every figure is linked to its source below.
Lehigh County is a county of Pennsylvania with 378,792 residents. Its economy produced $31,739 million in 2024 (ranked #8 of 67 counties) and had 200,548 jobs with an average annual pay of $70,311 (#8 for pay). The unemployment rate was 3.5% in 2026M09. It is part of the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metropolitan area (central county).
Lehigh County produced about $31,739 million of goods and services in 2024, which is 3.1% of the combined output of the 67 counties of Pennsylvania that BEA reports (about 2.9% of the state's population lives here), and ranks it 8th of 67 on that measure. Per resident that is $83,789, 8% above the state average; the average for all counties of the state taken together is $77,418. In current dollars output grew 4.4% from 2023 to 2024, before adjusting for inflation.
BLS counts 200,548 jobs located in Lehigh County on average in 2024, spread over 8,954 employer sites (about 22 jobs per site). That is 0.53 jobs for every resident, above the 0.37 of the typical county in Pennsylvania, which tells you whether the county is a place people mostly commute to for work or a place they commute from. The average annual pay per job was $70,311, about the same as the average of all counties in the state ($70,311 against $69,174). Average pay is total wages divided by jobs, so it is pulled up by high earners and counts part-time jobs as whole jobs; it is not the pay of a typical worker. The number of jobs rose 0.6% from 2023 to 2024.
The three largest private industries are health care and social assistance (28.8% of private jobs, $76,972 a year on average), manufacturing (11.5% of private jobs, $82,231 a year on average), retail trade (10.6% of private jobs, $35,685 a year on average). Together they hold 51.0% of private-sector jobs. Among industries with at least 3% of jobs, the best paying is management of companies at $178,146 a year, followed by professional and technical services ($98,616). The county is specialised in several industries: transportation and warehousing (1.9 times the US share, 16,477 jobs); management of companies (1.8 times the US share, 6,229 jobs); health care and social assistance (1.8 times the US share, 50,249 jobs). A location quotient above 1 means an industry employs a larger share of workers here than in the whole country, so these are the industries where local employers compete hardest for skills. Several of the biggest employers pay well below the county average: retail trade ($35,685), accommodation and food services ($25,050). Jobs there are plentiful but the pay is lower than the headline average suggests.
In 2026M09 the unemployment rate in Lehigh County was 3.5%, 9% above the average of the state's counties (3.5% against 3.2%). The labour force (people working or looking for work) numbered 202,076. Over the last 12 months it ranged from 3.5% (2026M09) to 5.0% (2025M09); the latest month is preliminary and BLS revises it. These county rates are not seasonally adjusted, so compare the same month across years.
The median household income was $80,079 (ACS 2020–2024), about the same as the state median ($80,079 against $77,971). The guide covers 3 cities with this as the main county: Allentown, Fullerton, Emmaus. Open any of them for rent, home values, commuting and climate. Within the county, median rent runs from $1,317 in Allentown to $1,428 in Fullerton, so where you live matters as much as which county you pick.
Counties close to Lehigh County in output are Delaware County, Lancaster County, Dauphin County, York County. Compare their jobs, pay and unemployment on their own pages.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ | Rank among the 67 counties of Pennsylvania ⇅ |
|---|---|---|
| Population | 378,792 | 10 of 67 |
| GDP 2024 | $31,739 million | 8 of 67 |
| GDP per resident | $83,789 | 11 of 67 |
| Jobs (QCEW 2024) | 200,548 | 8 of 67 |
| Average annual pay | $70,311 | 8 of 67 |
| Job change vs 2023 | +0.6% | 31 of 67 |
| Unemployment rate (lower is better) | 3.5% | 58 of 67 |
| Median household income | $80,079 | 13 of 67 |
Federal jobs in Pennsylvania (519) →All cities of PennsylvaniaState guide: Pennsylvania
These links go to official sources and open in a new window. The first one is the government's or company's own site as listed in Wikidata (property "official website"); check it before relying on it.
Cities of this guide whose main county is Lehigh County (and 1 more that extend into it).
| Industry ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Share of private jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Concentration vs US (location quotient) ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health care and social assistance | 50,249 | 28.8% | $76,972 | 1.75 |
| Manufacturing | 20,118 | 11.5% | $82,231 | 1.22 |
| Retail trade | 18,500 | 10.6% | $35,685 | 0.92 |
| Transportation and warehousing | 16,477 | 9.5% | $63,865 | 1.94 |
| Accommodation and food services | 12,934 | 7.4% | $25,050 | 0.71 |
| Administrative and waste services | 12,643 | 7.3% | $53,545 | 1.07 |
| Professional and technical services | 9,798 | 5.6% | $98,616 | 0.70 |
| Construction | 6,664 | 3.8% | $79,633 | 0.63 |
| Management of companies | 6,229 | 3.6% | $178,146 | 1.84 |
| Other services (except public administration) | 5,238 | 3.0% | $43,783 | 0.87 |
| Finance and insurance | 4,294 | 2.5% | $105,814 | 0.53 |
| Arts, entertainment, recreation | 3,893 | 2.2% | $40,061 | 1.15 |
| Educational services | 3,436 | 2.0% | $48,465 | 0.83 |
| Real estate and rental | 2,007 | 1.2% | $63,546 | 0.64 |
| Information | 1,801 | 1.0% | $82,178 | 0.48 |
A location quotient above 1 means the industry is more concentrated here than in the US. BLS withholds sectors with too few employers.
| Measure ⇅ | Value ⇅ |
|---|---|
| Labour force | 202,076 |
| Employed residents | 195,012 |
| Unemployed residents | 7,064 |
| Unemployment rate | 3.5% |
| Jobs located in the county (QCEW) | 200,548 |
| Employer sites | 8,954 |
Residents employed and jobs located here differ: many residents commute to other counties.
| County ⇅ | Population ⇅ | GDP 2024 ⇅ | GDP per resident ⇅ | Jobs ⇅ | Average annual pay ⇅ | Unemployment ⇅ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia County | 1,579,706 | $134,989 million | $85,452 | 714,504 | $83,187 | 4.3% |
| Allegheny County | 1,238,177 | $132,892 million | $107,329 | 670,637 | $78,297 | 3.0% |
| Montgomery County | 867,573 | $110,422 million | $127,277 | 505,821 | $88,412 | 2.7% |
| Bucks County | 647,461 | $48,827 million | $75,413 | 274,632 | $64,953 | 2.9% |
| Delaware County | 579,222 | $42,608 million | $73,561 | 218,536 | $73,172 | 3.3% |
| Lancaster County | 557,931 | $39,951 million | $71,606 | 252,045 | $59,966 | 2.5% |
| Chester County | 547,840 | $60,160 million | $109,814 | 251,284 | $87,886 | 2.6% |
| York County | 462,924 | $28,433 million | $61,421 | 182,614 | $62,427 | 3.0% |
| Berks County | 433,015 | $26,580 million | $61,384 | 173,692 | $63,608 | 3.4% |
| Lehigh County | 378,792 | $31,739 million | $83,789 | 200,548 | $70,311 | 3.5% |
| Westmoreland County | 352,500 | $19,388 million | $55,000 | 129,350 | $56,519 | 2.9% |
| Luzerne County | 327,675 | $20,580 million | $62,808 | 145,190 | $55,901 | 4.1% |
| Northampton County | 318,580 | $20,982 million | $65,860 | 120,976 | $60,298 | 3.3% |
| Dauphin County | 289,593 | $28,909 million | $99,828 | 190,296 | $68,012 | 3.2% |
| Erie County | 269,052 | $15,024 million | $55,840 | 119,552 | $53,524 | 3.2% |
| Cumberland County | 268,323 | $23,098 million | $86,083 | 137,668 | $65,149 | 2.6% |
| Lackawanna County | 216,146 | $13,421 million | $62,094 | 98,108 | $53,720 | 3.4% |
| Washington County | 210,042 | $18,672 million | $88,896 | 87,434 | $72,319 | 3.0% |
| Butler County | 197,254 | $14,518 million | $73,599 | 88,461 | $65,579 | 2.7% |
| Monroe County | 167,515 | $9,563 million | $57,089 | 56,939 | $53,536 | 3.9% |
| Beaver County | 166,324 | $8,033 million | $48,294 | 48,481 | $58,825 | 3.3% |
| Centre County | 158,576 | $11,249 million | $70,938 | 68,578 | $62,822 | 2.6% |
| Franklin County | 157,379 | $8,379 million | $53,238 | 60,414 | $55,554 | 2.8% |
| Lebanon County | 144,186 | $8,097 million | $56,159 | 53,500 | $55,454 | 2.8% |
| Schuylkill County | 143,558 | $6,492 million | $45,221 | 50,294 | $54,134 | 3.9% |
| Cambria County | 131,538 | $6,208 million | $47,197 | 47,545 | $49,791 | 3.4% |
| Fayette County | 125,997 | $5,442 million | $43,194 | 37,892 | $51,069 | 3.7% |
| Blair County | 121,277 | $8,000 million | $65,966 | 58,025 | $53,266 | 2.9% |
| Lycoming County | 113,489 | $7,698 million | $67,834 | 49,795 | $55,535 | 3.1% |
| Mercer County | 109,257 | $5,515 million | $50,475 | 43,239 | $54,120 | 3.3% |
| Adams County | 106,115 | $4,729 million | $44,565 | 33,195 | $54,542 | 2.7% |
| Northumberland County | 90,560 | $4,733 million | $52,266 | 26,979 | $53,035 | 3.1% |
| Lawrence County | 85,024 | $4,200 million | $49,394 | 26,838 | $52,927 | 3.2% |
| Indiana County | 83,042 | $4,202 million | $50,601 | 27,793 | $55,756 | 3.1% |
| Crawford County | 82,716 | $3,665 million | $44,305 | 28,870 | $50,526 | 2.9% |
| Clearfield County | 78,635 | $4,033 million | $51,289 | 29,228 | $51,575 | 3.0% |
| Somerset County | 72,799 | $3,038 million | $41,729 | 23,303 | $50,925 | 2.9% |
| Carbon County | 65,382 | $2,798 million | $42,799 | 16,676 | $44,741 | 3.4% |
| Columbia County | 65,362 | $3,276 million | $50,128 | 24,395 | $50,569 | 3.5% |
| Armstrong County | 64,622 | $2,798 million | $43,291 | 15,650 | $51,796 | 3.1% |
| Pike County | 60,621 | $2,003 million | $33,045 | 12,452 | $44,674 | 3.7% |
| Bradford County | 59,858 | $6,798 million | $113,570 | 22,333 | $60,112 | 2.9% |
| Wayne County | 51,262 | $2,652 million | $51,738 | 15,462 | $52,861 | 3.0% |
| Venango County | 49,801 | $2,149 million | $43,156 | 16,232 | $49,299 | 3.2% |
| Bedford County | 47,513 | $2,041 million | $42,948 | 16,659 | $49,760 | 2.7% |
| Perry County | 46,239 | $1,362 million | $29,448 | 7,903 | $42,701 | 2.7% |
| Mifflin County | 46,041 | $2,340 million | $50,833 | 16,979 | $52,273 | 2.4% |
| Jefferson County | 43,864 | $1,883 million | $42,936 | 14,437 | $49,283 | 3.0% |
| Huntingdon County | 43,653 | $1,677 million | $38,419 | 12,694 | $48,579 | 3.0% |
| Union County | 42,456 | $2,510 million | $59,131 | 17,546 | $58,821 | 2.9% |
| Tioga County | 40,945 | $2,074 million | $50,651 | 12,397 | $50,900 | 3.1% |
| McKean County | 39,904 | $2,212 million | $55,445 | 13,930 | $50,225 | 3.4% |
| Snyder County | 39,668 | $2,202 million | $55,515 | 15,516 | $46,001 | 2.8% |
| Susquehanna County | 38,219 | $2,616 million | $68,448 | 8,955 | $50,769 | 3.0% |
| Warren County | 37,920 | $1,726 million | $45,519 | 12,946 | $51,997 | 2.9% |
| Clinton County | 37,798 | $1,963 million | $51,937 | 12,630 | $52,458 | 3.1% |
| Clarion County | 37,179 | $1,432 million | $38,513 | 12,341 | $47,067 | 3.2% |
| Greene County | 34,835 | $4,624 million | $132,742 | 11,661 | $67,466 | 3.3% |
| Elk County | 30,506 | $1,830 million | $59,989 | 13,348 | $52,545 | 2.8% |
| Wyoming County | 25,967 | $1,866 million | $71,845 | 9,420 | $61,337 | 3.2% |
| Juniata County | 23,379 | $1,025 million | $43,858 | 6,498 | $47,182 | 3.1% |
| Montour County | 18,103 | $2,785 million | $153,827 | 16,945 | $84,031 | 2.4% |
| Potter County | 16,188 | $1,065 million | $65,763 | 4,800 | $51,050 | 3.7% |
| Fulton County | 14,531 | $831 million | $57,195 | 5,395 | $57,966 | 2.6% |
| Forest County | 6,715 | $270 million | $40,167 | 1,873 | $57,723 | 3.3% |
| Sullivan County | 5,888 | $327 million | $55,526 | 1,528 | $41,252 | 2.9% |
| Cameron County | 4,427 | $268 million | $60,521 | 1,636 | $52,577 | 4.3% |
378,792 (Census Bureau ACS 2020–2024).
$31,739 million in 2024 (BEA, current dollars).
3.5% in 2026M09 (BLS, not seasonally adjusted; the latest month may be revised).
200,548 jobs on average in 2024 with an average annual pay of $70,311 (BLS QCEW).