
Welcome to the Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania: Downtowns, rural surrounds, mountains, lakes—all within about half an hour. And good jobs and a thriving Jewish community too!
A job you love. Quality of life. Affordable living. Good schools. Interesting things to do. A short ride from big cities. You can have all of that in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley.
The Lehigh Valley has the amenities of a large region and the charm and friendliness of a small town. And the economy is booming, creating job opportunities for all skill and education levels.
With more and more people discovering all these qualities, the population continues to grow. Nearly 700,000 now live in the region that encompasses Lehigh and Northampton Counties, with its three cities strung along an east-to-west line beginning at the New Jersey border. Allentown is the largest of the three, followed by Bethlehem and Easton. All around them are nearly 60 boroughs and townships, each with a distinct sense of place.
A Vital Jewish Community
The Jewish population in the Valley totals about 8,000, and Jewish-owned and -founded businesses count among the region’s best-known legacy brands and employers. The best known of those is Just Born, famous for its Peeps marshmallow treats. The region even celebrates New Year’s with Peepsfest, a buzzing two-day gala of music, entertainment, food, and games that ends with a giant, 200-pound lit-up chick dropping like the Times Square Ball before a cheering crowd.
The Valley offers all the essentials of Jewish life: a JCC that serves as the community’s physical hub and more, a Jewish Federation that hosts celebrations and commemorations and other events that bring people together and that raises funds for local Jewish agencies and those in need, a Jewish Family Service that provides services to meet needs of both Jewish and non-Jewish residents, a Jewish Day School to provide kids with a well-rounded Jewish education, and 10 synagogues of denominations ranging from Orthodox to Reconstructionist.
Just the facts
The general rise in population in the Valley stands out in the Northeast region. Of the 218 counties from Pennsylvania to Maine, Northampton County ranks 12th in population growth since 2020, putting it in the top 5.5 percent. Lehigh County ranks 26th, putting it in the top 12 percent. Both are among the 10 fastest-growing counties in the state since 2020.
The varied landscape of the region offers bustling city life and suburban respite. Highly rated healthcare networks serve the population, along with 11 colleges and universities and a multitude of public and private K-12 schools and other educational institutions, including some of the best in the nation.
The Valley is a place where you can bike stunning trails through wilderness by day and go out afterward for a night on the town. From aged steaks and fine wine, to concert and sporting venues, to museums and kids’ attractions, culinary, recreational, and cultural opportunities are abundant.
The community is multigenerational, with significant numbers of Gen Zers, Gen Xers, Baby Boomers, and Millennials. Young adults are leading the recent population growth, ranking the region among the state’s best at attracting 18-to-34-year-olds.
In good company
More than 15,000 companies employing more than 338,000 workers call the Valley home. The gross domestic product exceeds $50 billion, more than that of two U.S. states. In 2023, the Valley was the No. 1 midsize region in the country for economic development based on the number of new projects.
The region’s job growth creates increasing opportunities for families. As commerce has expanded, median household income has risen, exceeding state and national medians. Poverty levels have decreased to less than the state and national rates.
Businesses are drawn here by the skilled workforce, by the more than 1.7 million people who live within an hour’s drive. The location as a transportation nerve cluster is a draw too: One-third of all U.S. consumers live within a day’s drive of the Lehigh Valley, making it easy for producers to get their goods to market. It’s also easy to reach places like New York City (90 minutes) and Philadelphia and the Pocono Mountains (about an hour). For longer trips, Lehigh Valley International Airport has been voted second-best small airport in the nation. It recently added direct flights to multiple locations in Florida and to Denver.
Manufacturing drives the region’s economy. It represents 16 percent of the GDP, outpacing the rest of the nation, where manufacturing represents 12 percent. More than 700 Lehigh Valley manufacturers employ about 37,000 workers who make technological components such as semiconductors, lifesaving medical devices, food and beverages, vehicles, and consumer goods, among other products.
The region has always been good at making things. It retains the innovative mindset and hardworking traits of the days when Bethlehem Steel was churning out the steel to build skyscrapers and bridges. The manufacturing economy has greatly expanded and diversified since then. Mack Trucks are made in the Lehigh Valley. So are Martin Guitars and Crayola crayons.
But it’s not just about manufacturing. The Lehigh Valley economy is balanced with job opportunities across employment sectors, ranging from the lab to the professional office to the shop floor. Other leading economic drivers include finance, insurance, and real estate; education, health care, and social assistance; and professional and business services.
Quality of life is another reason for the boom in business—companies want to locate where employees and their families will be happy and safe. The cost of living here is lower than in some other comparable locations in the United States. Nineteen of the region’s high schools were ranked among the top 500 in the nation by U.S. News and World Report. Lehigh Valley Health Network and St. Luke’s University Health Network get high marks for their quality of care.
For the fun of it
There’s also a lot to do for fun in the Valley. Its rich menu of recreational offerings caters to all tastes.
Family attractions include Dorney Park and Wildwater Kingdom, Crayola Experience, and the Da Vinci Science Center. For foodies, there are farmers markets, outdoor cafes, and ethnic dining spots. For sports buffs, the top minor league affiliates of the Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Flyers play in Allentown.
PPL Center hosts large concerts, performances, and other entertainment. Shows, music, and more take the stage at the State Theatre in Easton, Wind Creek Event Center in Bethlehem, and the Civic Theatre and Symphony Hall in Allentown.
The Valley is known across the globe as the home of Musikfest, billed as the largest free music festival in the United States. Held over 10 days in August, it’s attended by more than 1 million people. Other festivals include Bacon Fest and Garlic Fest in Easton; the Great Allentown Fair and Blues, Brews, and Barbecue in Allentown; and Christkindlmarkt and Oktoberfest in Bethlehem.
Steeped in history and tradition
The Lehigh Valley has a proud heritage, and it’s well preserved at the National Museum of Industrial History, America on Wheels, Sigal Museum, Lehigh Valley Heritage Museum, Museum of Indian Culture, and the National Canal Museum, among others.
Bethlehem’s historic Moravian Church settlement was recently named to the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the international Moravian Church Settlements sites. It is one of only 26 locations in the United States to hold that prestigious honor—a short list that features iconic locations such as the Statue of Liberty and Independence Hall.
Jewish heritage in the area stretches back even farther, to well before the American Revolution. In 1655, Jewish refugees from Brazil who were part of the first established Jewish community in North America, in New Amsterdam (now New York), set out on a trading expedition along the Delaware River, in territory that is now Northampton County. Jewish presence in the Valley began growing from there. The Valley’s first synagogue, only the 10th in the United States, was founded in Easton in 1839: Congregation Brit Shalom, later known as Temple Covenant of Peace, which merged with Bnai Abraham Synagogue in 2020 to become Congregation Bnai Shalom.
Outsiders are taking notice
People outside the Valley are noticing its special qualities. Realtor.com has ranked Lehigh Valley zip codes among the nation’s hottest three years in a row. Bethlehem has been named in the Top 100 Best Places to Live in each of the last three years by Livability.com.
Allentown’s West End Theatre District ranked 16th among America’s Most Underrated Nightlife Neighborhoods by Wealth of Geeks, a website “dedicated to anything we can geek out about.”
Easton recently was ranked among the nine towns in Pennsylvania with the best downtown areas by WorldAtlas. The list also includes a couple other downtowns just a short drive from the Lehigh Valley: Jim Thorpe and New Hope.
Of course there’s a lot more than one article can cover. But all this makes the case that the Lehigh Valley is worth more than a look from Jewish individuals and families looking to relocate.
By Paul Muschick and Carl Zebrowski. Paul Muschick is the director of communications and media relations of the Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation. Carl zebrowski is the editor of Shalom Lehigh Valley.