Cities in Pennsylvania by unemployed people

Philadelphia, PA had the highest unemployed people of 25 cities in 2022, at 37,548. Johnstown, PA had the lowest, at 425. The median was 908. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest37,548Philadelphia, PA
Lowest425Johnstown, PA
Median90825 cities

All cities, 2022

Philadelphia, PA: 37,548 personsPhiladelphia, PA37,548Pittsburgh, PA: 5,948 personsPittsburgh, PA5,948Allentown, PA: 3,045 personsAllentown, PA3,045Erie, PA: 2,125 personsErie, PA2,125Reading, PA: 2,030 personsReading, PA2,030Bethlehem, PA: 1,662 personsBethlehem, PA1,662Scranton, PA: 1,598 personsScranton, PA1,598Lancaster, PA: 1,191 personsLancaster, PA1,191Harrisburg, PA: 1,127 personsHarrisburg, PA1,127Wilkes-Barre, PA: 1,068 personsWilkes-Barre, PA1,068York, PA: 1,048 personsYork, PA1,048Altoona, PA: 908 personsAltoona, PA908Chester, PA: 908 personsChester, PA908Hazleton, PA: 802 personsHazleton, PA802Norristown, PA: 757 personsNorristown, PA757State College, PA: 652 personsState College, PA652Easton, PA: 641 personsEaston, PA641Bethel Park, PA: 575 personsBethel Park, PA575Williamsport, PA: 573 personsWilliamsport, PA573Plum, PA: 561 personsPlum, PA561Lebanon, PA: 557 personsLebanon, PA557Monroeville, PA: 552 personsMonroeville, PA552New Castle, PA: 476 personsNew Castle, PA476West Mifflin, PA: 430 personsWest Mifflin, PA430Johnstown, PA: 425 personsJohnstown, PA425Philadelphia, PA: 37,548 personsPhiladelphia, PA37,548Pittsburgh, PA: 5,948 personsPittsburgh, PA5,948Allentown, PA: 3,045 personsAllentown, PA3,045Erie, PA: 2,125 personsErie, PA2,125Reading, PA: 2,030 personsReading, PA2,030Bethlehem, PA: 1,662 personsBethlehem, PA1,662Scranton, PA: 1,598 personsScranton, PA1,598Lancaster, PA: 1,191 personsLancaster, PA1,191Harrisburg, PA: 1,127 personsHarrisburg, PA1,127Wilkes-Barre, PA: 1,068 personsWilkes-Barre, PA1,068York, PA: 1,048 personsYork, PA1,048Altoona, PA: 908 personsAltoona, PA908Chester, PA: 908 personsChester, PA908Hazleton, PA: 802 personsHazleton, PA802Norristown, PA: 757 personsNorristown, PA757State College, PA: 652 personsState College, PA652Easton, PA: 641 personsEaston, PA641Bethel Park, PA: 575 personsBethel Park, PA575Williamsport, PA: 573 personsWilliamsport, PA573Plum, PA: 561 personsPlum, PA561Lebanon, PA: 557 personsLebanon, PA557Monroeville, PA: 552 personsMonroeville, PA552New Castle, PA: 476 personsNew Castle, PA476West Mifflin, PA: 430 personsWest Mifflin, PA430Johnstown, PA: 425 personsJohnstown, PA425
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: unemployment (measure 04), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2022
persons
Change on 2021
1Philadelphia, PA37,548-38%
2Pittsburgh, PA5,948-33.2%
3Allentown, PA3,045-46.8%
4Erie, PA2,125-37.1%
5Reading, PA2,030-48.8%
6Bethlehem, PA1,662-34.9%
7Scranton, PA1,598-35.2%
8Lancaster, PA1,191-45.4%
9Harrisburg, PA1,127-50.9%
10Wilkes-Barre, PA1,068-38.6%
11York, PA1,048-52.5%
12Altoona, PA908-29.4%
12Chester, PA908-40.8%
14Hazleton, PA802-50.9%
15Norristown, PA757-40.4%
16State College, PA652-4.8%
17Easton, PA641-33.6%
18Bethel Park, PA575-29%
19Williamsport, PA573-39%
20Plum, PA561-25.5%
21Lebanon, PA557-49%
22Monroeville, PA552-30.4%
23New Castle, PA476-40.5%
24West Mifflin, PA430-35.6%
25Johnstown, PA425-30.2%

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.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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average (Cities in Pennsylvania by unemployed people, 2022) [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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average, Cities in Pennsylvania by unemployed people, 2022. 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/unemployed-people/pennsylvania-cities?period=2022. 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, 2022. 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/unemployed-people/pennsylvania-cities?period=2022.

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, 2022 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/pennsylvania-cities?period=2022 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_pennsylvania_by_2022,
  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, 2022}},
  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/unemployed-people/pennsylvania-cities?period=2022. 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.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: unemployment (measure 04), annual average: Cities in Pennsylvania by unemployed people, 2022
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/unemployed-people/pennsylvania-cities?period=2022
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/unemployed-people/pennsylvania-cities?period=2022.
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.CurrentU20-24. 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 37,548 in 2022, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest unemployed people?

Johnstown, PA, with 425 in 2022.

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