Allentown, PA
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Allentown ranks 112th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 80th for income. A household earns $83,974 a year while median rent runs $1,458/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 0% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is health (26th of 300), while commute is the soft spot (259th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 198th and home prices 174th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Allentown, your take-home is worth about $59,030 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 80th of 300↑18.6%$83,974
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 214th of 300100 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $84,001
- Per-capita income
- $43,116
- Full-time pay
- $46,017
Housing
- Median rent
- 198th of 300↑31.5%$1,458/mo
- Home value
- 174th of 300↑47.9%$332,700
- Property tax
- $4,702/yr · 1.4%
- Sales tax
- 6.34%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 230th of 3005.3%
- Bachelor's+
- 145th of 30033.8%
- Avg commute
- 259th of 30028.2 min
People
- Population
- 886,418
- Population change
- +5%
- Median age
- 41.6 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 11.9%
- Broadband
- 92.8%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 80th of 30041
- Natural-hazard loss
- 109th of 300$11/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 26th of 30015.3%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 9.8%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Household income
- + Air quality
- + Health
Watch-outs
- – Cost of living
- – Job market
- – Commute
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — allentown lehigh vly intl ap.
What jobs pay in Allentown
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $371,260
- IT managers
- $165,660
- Financial managers
- $146,030
- Pharmacists
- $138,390
- Lawyers
- $126,160
- Software developers
- $122,930
- Registered nurses
- $101,440
- General & operations managers
- $101,260
- Civil engineers
- $98,760
- Police officers
- $84,530
- Secondary school teachers
- $79,990
- Elementary school teachers
- $79,040
- Accountants & auditors
- $78,430
- Web developers
- $76,240
- Electricians
- $66,500
- Plumbers
- $64,940
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $60,090
- Carpenters
- $59,540
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $52,880
- Construction laborers
- $49,290
- Customer service reps
- $44,160
- Janitors
- $37,700
- Waiters & waitresses
- $34,630
- Retail salespersons
- $32,310
- Cashiers
- $30,560
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Allentown metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Pennsylvania are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- New York4,557
- Florida1,191
- Texas675
- North Carolina655
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Allentown
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Allentown metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Allentown metro?
- Median gross rent across the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area is $1,458 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Allentown.
- What is the median household income in the Allentown metro?
- A typical household in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area earns $83,974 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Allentown expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area runs about 0% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Allentown metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $84,001 (versus its face value of $83,974). CityLedger rates the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Allentown metro?
- The median home value across the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area is $332,700 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Allentown metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metro Area is 5.3% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).