Data / Rankings / Unemployed people / Cities in Pennsylvania

Cities in Pennsylvania by unemployed people

Philadelphia, PA had the highest unemployed people of 25 cities in 2015, at 51,021. West Mifflin, PA had the lowest, at 601. The median was 1,222. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest51,021Philadelphia, PA
Lowest601West Mifflin, PA
Median1,22225 cities

All cities, 2015

Philadelphia, PA: 51,021 personsPhiladelphia, PA51,021Pittsburgh, PA: 8,485 personsPittsburgh, PA8,485Allentown, PA: 4,235 personsAllentown, PA4,235Erie, PA: 2,930 personsErie, PA2,930Reading, PA: 2,680 personsReading, PA2,680Scranton, PA: 2,348 personsScranton, PA2,348Bethlehem, PA: 2,263 personsBethlehem, PA2,263Lancaster, PA: 1,709 personsLancaster, PA1,709York, PA: 1,599 personsYork, PA1,599Harrisburg, PA: 1,558 personsHarrisburg, PA1,558Wilkes-Barre, PA: 1,394 personsWilkes-Barre, PA1,394Chester, PA: 1,249 personsChester, PA1,249Altoona, PA: 1,222 personsAltoona, PA1,222Hazleton, PA: 1,143 personsHazleton, PA1,143Williamsport, PA: 991 personsWilliamsport, PA991Norristown, PA: 956 personsNorristown, PA956Lebanon, PA: 856 personsLebanon, PA856Easton, PA: 837 personsEaston, PA837State College, PA: 817 personsState College, PA817Bethel Park, PA: 771 personsBethel Park, PA771New Castle, PA: 748 personsNew Castle, PA748Plum, PA: 722 personsPlum, PA722Monroeville, PA: 716 personsMonroeville, PA716Johnstown, PA: 645 personsJohnstown, PA645West Mifflin, PA: 601 personsWest Mifflin, PA601Philadelphia, PA: 51,021 personsPhiladelphia, PA51,021Pittsburgh, PA: 8,485 personsPittsburgh, PA8,485Allentown, PA: 4,235 personsAllentown, PA4,235Erie, PA: 2,930 personsErie, PA2,930Reading, PA: 2,680 personsReading, PA2,680Scranton, PA: 2,348 personsScranton, PA2,348Bethlehem, PA: 2,263 personsBethlehem, PA2,263Lancaster, PA: 1,709 personsLancaster, PA1,709York, PA: 1,599 personsYork, PA1,599Harrisburg, PA: 1,558 personsHarrisburg, PA1,558Wilkes-Barre, PA: 1,394 personsWilkes-Barre, PA1,394Chester, PA: 1,249 personsChester, PA1,249Altoona, PA: 1,222 personsAltoona, PA1,222Hazleton, PA: 1,143 personsHazleton, PA1,143Williamsport, PA: 991 personsWilliamsport, PA991Norristown, PA: 956 personsNorristown, PA956Lebanon, PA: 856 personsLebanon, PA856Easton, PA: 837 personsEaston, PA837State College, PA: 817 personsState College, PA817Bethel Park, PA: 771 personsBethel Park, PA771New Castle, PA: 748 personsNew Castle, PA748Plum, PA: 722 personsPlum, PA722Monroeville, PA: 716 personsMonroeville, PA716Johnstown, PA: 645 personsJohnstown, PA645West Mifflin, PA: 601 personsWest Mifflin, PA601
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2015
persons		Change on 2014
1Philadelphia, PA51,021-10.9%
2Pittsburgh, PA8,485-6.6%
3Allentown, PA4,235-8.8%
4Erie, PA2,930-10.4%
5Reading, PA2,680-12.1%
6Scranton, PA2,348-11.5%
7Bethlehem, PA2,263-11.9%
8Lancaster, PA1,709-11.5%
9York, PA1,599-14.2%
10Harrisburg, PA1,558-12.5%
11Wilkes-Barre, PA1,394-12.1%
12Chester, PA1,249-12.4%
13Altoona, PA1,222-9%
14Hazleton, PA1,143-17.4%
15Williamsport, PA991-6.2%
16Norristown, PA956-11.4%
17Lebanon, PA856-9.7%
18Easton, PA837-11.5%
19State College, PA817-11%
20Bethel Park, PA771+1.2%
21New Castle, PA748+0.9%
22Plum, PA722-6.4%
23Monroeville, PA716-8.1%
24Johnstown, PA645-10.8%
25West Mifflin, PA601-6.4%

Other periods

About this ranking

Residents with no job who were available for work and had looked for work in the previous four weeks, or were waiting to be recalled from a layoff, 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. The survey definition, not a count of benefit claimants. 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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. 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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average (Cities in Pennsylvania by unemployed people, 2015) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Pennsylvania by unemployed people, 2015. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/pennsylvania-cities?period=2015. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Cities in Pennsylvania by unemployed people, 2015. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/pennsylvania-cities?period=2015.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Pennsylvania by unemployed people, 2015 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/pennsylvania-cities?period=2015 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_pennsylvania_by_2015,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Pennsylvania by unemployed people, 2015}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/pennsylvania-cities?period=2015. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. 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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Pennsylvania by unemployed people, 2015
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.CurrentU15-19
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/pennsylvania-cities?period=2015
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/pennsylvania-cities?period=2015.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU15-19. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Rank Cities in Pennsylvania by unemployed people using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest unemployed people?

Philadelphia, PA, with 51,021 in 2015, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

West Mifflin, PA, with 601 in 2015.

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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Unemployed people: other rankings

Cities in Pennsylvania: more rankings