Data / Rankings / Employed residents / Cities in Pennsylvania

Cities in Pennsylvania by employed residents

Philadelphia, PA had the highest employed residents of 25 cities in 2021, at 707,367. Johnstown, PA had the lowest, at 6,823. The median was 17,806. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest707,367Philadelphia, PA
Lowest6,823Johnstown, PA
Median17,80625 cities

All cities, 2021

Philadelphia, PA: 707,367 personsPhiladelphia, PA707,367Pittsburgh, PA: 153,009 personsPittsburgh, PA153,009Allentown, PA: 53,990 personsAllentown, PA53,990Erie, PA: 39,648 personsErie, PA39,648Reading, PA: 36,666 personsReading, PA36,666Bethlehem, PA: 36,268 personsBethlehem, PA36,268Scranton, PA: 32,236 personsScranton, PA32,236Lancaster, PA: 28,168 personsLancaster, PA28,168Harrisburg, PA: 21,703 personsHarrisburg, PA21,703York, PA: 19,880 personsYork, PA19,880Altoona, PA: 18,614 personsAltoona, PA18,614Wilkes-Barre, PA: 18,584 personsWilkes-Barre, PA18,584Norristown, PA: 17,806 personsNorristown, PA17,806Bethel Park, PA: 16,714 personsBethel Park, PA16,714State College, PA: 16,168 personsState College, PA16,168Easton, PA: 14,434 personsEaston, PA14,434Plum, PA: 13,685 personsPlum, PA13,685Monroeville, PA: 13,307 personsMonroeville, PA13,307Hazleton, PA: 12,916 personsHazleton, PA12,916Chester, PA: 12,327 personsChester, PA12,327Williamsport, PA: 11,803 personsWilliamsport, PA11,803Lebanon, PA: 10,999 personsLebanon, PA10,999West Mifflin, PA: 8,825 personsWest Mifflin, PA8,825New Castle, PA: 7,413 personsNew Castle, PA7,413Johnstown, PA: 6,823 personsJohnstown, PA6,823Philadelphia, PA: 707,367 personsPhiladelphia, PA707,367Pittsburgh, PA: 153,009 personsPittsburgh, PA153,009Allentown, PA: 53,990 personsAllentown, PA53,990Erie, PA: 39,648 personsErie, PA39,648Reading, PA: 36,666 personsReading, PA36,666Bethlehem, PA: 36,268 personsBethlehem, PA36,268Scranton, PA: 32,236 personsScranton, PA32,236Lancaster, PA: 28,168 personsLancaster, PA28,168Harrisburg, PA: 21,703 personsHarrisburg, PA21,703York, PA: 19,880 personsYork, PA19,880Altoona, PA: 18,614 personsAltoona, PA18,614Wilkes-Barre, PA: 18,584 personsWilkes-Barre, PA18,584Norristown, PA: 17,806 personsNorristown, PA17,806Bethel Park, PA: 16,714 personsBethel Park, PA16,714State College, PA: 16,168 personsState College, PA16,168Easton, PA: 14,434 personsEaston, PA14,434Plum, PA: 13,685 personsPlum, PA13,685Monroeville, PA: 13,307 personsMonroeville, PA13,307Hazleton, PA: 12,916 personsHazleton, PA12,916Chester, PA: 12,327 personsChester, PA12,327Williamsport, PA: 11,803 personsWilliamsport, PA11,803Lebanon, PA: 10,999 personsLebanon, PA10,999West Mifflin, PA: 8,825 personsWest Mifflin, PA8,825New Castle, PA: 7,413 personsNew Castle, PA7,413Johnstown, PA: 6,823 personsJohnstown, PA6,823
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Philadelphia, PA707,367+2.1%
2Pittsburgh, PA153,009+2.4%
3Allentown, PA53,990+3.1%
4Erie, PA39,648+1.1%
5Reading, PA36,666+1.7%
6Bethlehem, PA36,268+6%
7Scranton, PA32,236+1.6%
8Lancaster, PA28,168+1.9%
9Harrisburg, PA21,703+1.1%
10York, PA19,880+2.3%
11Altoona, PA18,614+1.4%
12Wilkes-Barre, PA18,584+1.8%
13Norristown, PA17,806+3.2%
14Bethel Park, PA16,714+0.5%
15State College, PA16,168+1.3%
16Easton, PA14,434+10.8%
17Plum, PA13,685+0.8%
18Monroeville, PA13,307+0.7%
19Hazleton, PA12,916+2.1%
20Chester, PA12,327+5.9%
21Williamsport, PA11,803-0.3%
22Lebanon, PA10,999+1.9%
23West Mifflin, PA8,825+0.6%
24New Castle, PA7,413+0.9%
25Johnstown, PA6,823+0.5%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents who did any work for pay or profit in the reference week, or were temporarily absent from a job, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. Counts people where they live, whatever the place of work, and someone with two jobs counts once. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average (Cities in Pennsylvania by employed residents, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in Pennsylvania by employed residents, 2021. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/pennsylvania-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Cities in Pennsylvania by employed residents, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/pennsylvania-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average, Cities in Pennsylvania by employed residents, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/pennsylvania-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_pennsylvania_by_2021,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average: Cities in Pennsylvania by employed residents, 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/pennsylvania-cities?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average: Cities in Pennsylvania by employed residents, 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/pennsylvania-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/employed-residents/pennsylvania-cities?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Questions

Which city has the highest employed residents?

Philadelphia, PA, with 707,367 in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest employed residents?

Johnstown, PA, with 6,823 in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: employment (measure 05), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Employed residents: other rankings

Cities in Pennsylvania: more rankings