Biggest Cities in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's two major cities — Philadelphia and Pittsburgh — have very different characters despite being in the same state. Between them lies a band of mid-sized industrial cities.

Philadelphia — 1,570,000 (metro: 6.2 million)
The Sixth-largest US city and America's first great city — Philadelphia was the largest English-speaking city in the world outside of London for much of the 18th century. The city's character is defined by its Revolutionary history, its immigrant neighborhood culture (South Philly's Italian Market, the 9th Street Italian Market — the oldest outdoor market in the US; Chinatown; Fishtown's arts scene), the Reading Terminal Market (the finest indoor food market in the US), the Philadelphia Museum of Art (the third-largest art museum in the US — the "Rocky Steps" are on the front), and Fairmount Park (the largest urban park in the US at 10,000 acres).

Pittsburgh — 302,000 (metro: 2.4 million)
The Steel City — Pittsburgh's dramatic topography (three rivers, steep hills, 446 bridges — the most of any city in the world) and its post-industrial transformation (from steel capital to healthcare, education, and technology hub) give it a narrative unlike any other American city. The Carnegie institutions (Carnegie Museum of Natural History — the finest dinosaur collection in the east; Carnegie Museum of Art; Carnegie Library), Heinz History Center, and the Andy Warhol Museum (the largest museum dedicated to a single artist in the US — Warhol was from Pittsburgh) are exceptional. Point State Park at the three-river confluence is the geographic and symbolic heart of the city.

Allentown — 125,000
The largest city in the Lehigh Valley — a former industrial city (Bethlehem Steel, PPL, Air Products) that is the center of one of the fastest-growing mid-sized metros in the Northeast. Allentown's Lehigh Valley arts and restaurant scene has developed rapidly.

Erie — 94,000
Pennsylvania's only Great Lakes port — Erie's Presque Isle State Park, the Erie Art Museum, and the Tom Ridge Environmental Center anchor a modest but genuine cultural scene. Mercyhurst University gives it a small-college atmosphere.