Lehigh Valley

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The Lehigh Valley () is a geographic and metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh and Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a component valley of the Great Appalachian Valley bounded to its north by Blue Mountain, to its south by South Mountain, to its west by Lebanon Valley, and to its east by the Delaware River and Warren County, New Jersey. The Lehigh Valley is about 40 miles (64 km) long and 20 miles (32 km) wide. The Lehigh Valley's largest city is Allentown, the third-largest city in Pennsylvania and the county seat of Lehigh County, with a population of 125,845 residents as of the 2020 census. The Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton metropolitan area, which includes the Lehigh Valley, is Pennsylvania's third-most populous metropolitan area after Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and the nation's 66th-largest metropolitan area, with a population of 886,418 as of 2023. Lehigh County is among Pennsylvania's fastest-growing counties, and the Lehigh Valley leads Pennsylvania in terms of population growth in the 18- to 34-year-old demographic, which constitutes a significant portion of the labor workforce. The region's core population centers are located in southern and central Lehigh and Northampton counties along Interstate 78, Interstate 476, Pennsylvania Route 309, and U.S. Route 22. The Lehigh Valley has historically been a global leader in steel and other heavy manufacturing industries, which represented a considerable portion of its employment and economic production for most of the 20th century. Beginning in the early 1980s, however, the region's heavy manufacturing sector experienced a rapid downfall, highlighted by the downsizing, bankruptcy, and ultimate closure of Bethlehem Steel, the world's second-largest steel manufacturer for most of the 20th century, and other Lehigh Valley–based manufacturing companies. Throughout the late 20th century, the Lehigh Valley's economy struggled considerably, and it was often cited as one of the...