The Youngstown–Warren, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, typically known as the Mahoning Valley, is a

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

Northeast Ohio Northeast Ohio is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that comprises the northeastern counties of the U.S. state of Ohio. Definitions of the region consist of 16 to 23 counties between the southern shore of Lake Erie and the foothills ...

with

Youngstown, Ohio Youngstown is a city in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, 11th-most populous city in Ohio with a population of 60,068 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Mahoning ...

, at its center. According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the metropolitan statistical area (MSA) includes Mahoning and Trumbull counties. As of the 2020 census, the region had a population of 430,591, making it the 125th-largest metro area in the country. Taking its name from the

Mahoning River The Mahoning River is a river in northeastern Ohio and a small portion of western Pennsylvania. Flowing primarily through several Ohio counties, it crosses the state line into Pennsylvania before joining with the Shenango River to form the Beav ...

, the area has a large commuter population that works in

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

and

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

and their metropolitan areas. It is located in the

Rust Belt The Rust Belt, formerly the Steel Belt or Factory Belt, is an area of the United States that underwent substantial Deindustrialization, industrial decline in the late 20th century. The region is centered in the Great Lakes and Mid-Atlantic (Uni ...

, the former industrial region of the northern United States. The Youngstown–Warren–Salem combined statistical area adds the Salem micropolitan area and

Columbiana County, Ohio Columbiana County is a county located in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 101,877. The county seat is Lisbon and its largest city is Salem. Created in 1803, the county name is derived from that of 15th-centur ...

to the region, increasing the total population to 532,468. The Youngstown–Warren media market serves all three counties in the CSA, as well as the

Mercer County, Pennsylvania Mercer County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 110,652. Its county seat is Mercer, Pennsylvania, Mercer, and ...

and

Lawrence County, Pennsylvania Lawrence County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 86,070. The county seat and largest city is New Castle. The county was created on March 20, 1849, from parts of Beaver and Mercer cou ...

Steel industry

Although

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

has been produced in the Mahoning Valley since the mid-1800s, after the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

, the valley was primarily known for its

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

production. Conversion to steel manufacturing began during the economic depression of the 1890s. The Mahoning Valley is suitable for steel manufacture because of "its proximity to the

Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...

ports that receive

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the f ...

…the

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

fields of Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia; and to

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

deposits." The "25-mile stretch of steel mills and related industries" along the

is similar to the Ruhr Valley in Germany." Historically, it was part of the largest steel producing region in the world, leading to the historical " Steel Valley" moniker that the area shared with the

Pittsburgh metropolitan area Greater Pittsburgh is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Pittsburgh in Western Pennsylvania, United States. The region includes Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County, Pittsburgh's urban core county and economic hub, and s ...

. The local steel industry declined during the 1970s steel crisis. A notable plant closure occurred on September 19, 1977, when Youngstown Sheet and Tube abruptly closed its Campbell Works and

furlough A furlough (; from , "leave of absence") is a temporary cessation of paid employment that is intended to address the special needs of a company or employer; these needs may be due to economic conditions that affect a specific employer, or to thos ...

ed 5,000 workers. Today the area produces little steel, and is home to many

scrap metal Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap can have monetary value, especially recover ...

yards and

aluminum Aluminium (or aluminum in North American English) is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol Al and atomic number 13. It has a density lower than that of other common metals, about one-third that of steel. Aluminium has ...

plants. A 2009 documentary, ''Steel Valley: Meltdown'', addresses "the past, present and future of the Mahoning Valley" through the eyes of local experts, including one local organizer who stated, "We are the first generation completely removed from the days when steel mills were active." The Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corporation, founded in 1979, is active in economic revitalization and diversification. It owns two industrial parks, and has purchased local rail lines, including the Youngstown and Austintown Railroad and the Warren and Trumbull Railroad.

Municipalities

Largest municipalities

Cities, villages, and boroughs

Mahoning County *

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or sovereign state, states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an a ...

(partly in Stark County) * Austintown * Beloit * Berlin Center * Boardman * Campbell * Canfield * Craig Beach * Lowellville * Maple Ridge * Mineral Ridge * New Middletown *

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

* Sebring * Struthers *

Youngstown Youngstown is a city in Mahoning County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Ohio, 11th-most populous city in Ohio with a population of 60,068 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Mahoning ...

Trumbull County * Cortland * Girard * Hubbard * Newton Falls * Niles * Warren * Lordstown * McDonald * Orangeville * West Farmington * Yankee Lake Columbiana County (CSA) * Columbiana * East Liverpool * East Palestine * Hanoverton * Leetonia *

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

Minerva Minerva (; ; ) is the Roman goddess of wisdom, justice, law, victory, and the sponsor of arts, trade, and strategy. She is also a goddess of warfare, though with a focus on strategic warfare, rather than the violence of gods such as Mars. Be ...

* New Waterford * Rogers * Salem * Salineville * Summitville * Washingtonville * Wellsville

Townships

Mahoning County * Austintown *

Beaver Beavers (genus ''Castor'') are large, semiaquatic rodents of the Northern Hemisphere. There are two existing species: the North American beaver (''Castor canadensis'') and the Eurasian beaver (''C. fiber''). Beavers are the second-large ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

* Boardman * Canfield * Coitsville * Ellsworth * Goshen *

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a com ...

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

* Milton *

Smith Smith may refer to: People and fictional characters * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England ** List of people ...

* Springfield Trumbull County * Bazetta * Bloomfield * Braceville *

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

* Brookfield *

Champion A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional/provincial/state, national, continental and world champi ...

* Farmington * Fowler * Greene * Gustavus *

Hartford Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...

* Howland * Hubbard * Johnston * Kinsman *

Liberty Liberty is the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one's way of life, behavior, or political views. The concept of liberty can vary depending on perspective and context. In the Constitutional ...

Mecca Mecca, officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, is the capital of Mecca Province in the Hejaz region of western Saudi Arabia; it is the Holiest sites in Islam, holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow valley above ...

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and forms the eastern geographic boundary of ...

* Newton * Southington * Vernon *

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

* Warren * Weathersfield Columbiana County (CSA) *

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

* Center * Elkrun * Fairfield * Franklin *

Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...

* Knox *

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

* Madison * Middleton *

Perry Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...

* Salem * St. Clair * Unity *

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

* Wayne *

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

* Yellow Creek

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 602,978 people, 238,319 households, and 162,896 families residing within the MSA, which included

. The racial makeup of the MSA was 86.88%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 10.78%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.15% Native American, 0.45% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.55% from other races, and 1.17% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 1.70% of the population. The median income for a household in the MSA was $36,071, and the median income for a family was $44,055. Males had a median income of $35,626 versus $23,186 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the MSA was $18,547. Mahoningvalleyresults

Transportation

Airports

The Youngstown–Warren area is served by one regional airport: * Youngstown–Warren Regional Airport The area is also served by several county and local airports, including: * Columbiana County Airport * Koons Airport *

Lansdowne Airport Lansdowne Airport is a small, local airport on the East Side of Youngstown, Ohio, US near the Pennsylvania state line. Lansdowne Airport is a privately owned airport, located in an area known as the "Sharon Line" to locals, due to its proximit ...

* Miller Airport *

Salem Airpark Salem Airpark or Salem Air Park is a public use airport in Mahoning County, Ohio, Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. It is located three nautical miles (6 km) north of the central business district of Salem, Ohio. History Between 200 ...

* Warren Airport *

Youngstown Elser Metro Airport The Youngstown Elser Metro Airport is a privately owned, public use general aviation airport located 7 miles southwest of Youngstown in Beaver Township, Mahoning County, Ohio, United States. It has a 10/28 asphalt runway of in dimension. Fa ...

* Youngstown Air Reserve Station

Major highways

Interstate 76 * I-79

Interstate 79 Interstate 79 (I-79) is an Interstate Highway in the Eastern United States, designated from I-77 in Charleston, West Virginia, north to Pennsylvania Route 5 (PA 5) and PA 290 in Erie, Pennsylvania. It is a primary thoroughfare t ...

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one of the ori ...

Interstate 376 * I-680

Interstate 680 * OhioTurnpike

Ohio Turnpike The Ohio Turnpike, officially the James W. Shocknessy Ohio Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road in the U.S. state of Ohio, serving as a primary corridor between Chicago and Pittsburgh. The road runs east–west for in the northern sect ...

U.S. Route 19 * US 30

U.S. Route 30 * US 62

U.S. Route 62 * US 224

U.S. Route 224 U.S. Route 224 (US 224) is a spur of U.S. Route 24, US 24 that runs through the states of Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania. It currently runs for from U.S. Route 24 in Indiana, US 24 in Huntington, Indiana, east to U.S. Route 422 ...

U.S. Route 322 U.S. Route 322 (US 322) is a , east–west United States Highway, traversing Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. The road is a spur route, spur of U.S. Route 22, US 22 and one of the original highways from 1926. A portion of it at one time was c ...

U.S. Route 422

Public transit

The Western Reserve Transit Authority (WRTA) operates a metropolitan public busing system in Mahoning and Trumbull counties. In Columbiana County, the Community Action Rural Transit System (CARTS) operates a rural public busing system.

Colleges and universities

The Mahoning Valley is home to a number of higher education facilities, including: * Butler County Community College ( Hermitage) * Eastern Gateway Community College (

) * Grove City College ( Grove City) * Kent State University at East Liverpool ( East Liverpool) * Kent State University at Salem ( Salem) * Kent State University at Trumbull ( Warren) * New Castle School of Trades ( East Liverpool) * Pennsylvania State University Shenango (

Sharon Sharon ( 'plain'), also spelled Saron, is a given name as well as a Hebrew name. In Anglosphere, English-speaking areas, Sharon is now predominantly a feminine given name, but historically it was also used as a masculine given name. In Israel, ...

) *

Thiel College Thiel College (, ) is a private college in Greenville, Pennsylvania, United States. It is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and is one of the smallest colleges in the region with about 100 full-time and part-time faculty ...

( Greenville) *

Youngstown State University Youngstown State University (YSU or Youngstown State) is a public university in Youngstown, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1908 and is the easternmost member of the University System of Ohio. The university is composed of six undergrad ...

(

)

Sports

NCAA Division I sports are played in the region, with

fielding eight men's and ten women's teams.