Northampton County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 312,951. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Easton. The county was formed in 1752 from parts of Bucks County. Its namesake was the county of

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire ( ; abbreviated Northants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north, Cambridgeshire to the east, Bedfordshi ...

in England, and the county seat of Easton was named for Easton Neston, a country house in Northamptonshire. Northampton County and Lehigh County to its west combine to form the eastern Pennsylvania region known as the

Lehigh Valley The Lehigh Valley () is a geography, geographic and urban area, metropolitan region formed by the Lehigh River in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Lehigh and Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania. It is a co ...

; Lehigh County, with a population of 374,557 as of the 2020 U.S. census, is the more highly populated of the two counties. Both counties are part of the

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

media market, the fourth-largest in the nation. Northampton County has historically been a national leader in heavy manufacturing, especially of

cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

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 ...

, and other industrial products. Atlas Portland Cement Company, the world's largest cement manufacturer from 1895 until 1982, was based in

Northampton Northampton ( ) is a town and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is the county town of Northamptonshire and the administrative centre of the Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority of West Northamptonshire. The town is sit ...

in the county.

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...

, the world's second-largest manufacturer of steel for most of the 20th century, was based in

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

, the county's most populous city, prior to its dissolution in 2003. Northampton County borders Carbon County and the Poconos to its north, Lehigh County to its west, Bucks County to its south, and the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

to its east. The Lehigh River, a tributary of the Delaware River, flows through the county.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.0%) is water. The climate is humid continental (mostly ''Dfa'' with a little ''Dfb'' in higher northern areas) and the

hardiness zone A hardiness zone is a geographic area defined as having a certain average annual minimum temperature, a factor relevant to the survival of many plants. In some systems other statistics are included in the calculations. The original and most widely ...

is 7a except in the northern iier where it is 6b. Average monthly temperatures in downtown Bethlehem average from 29.1 °F in January to 74.1 °F in July, while in Wind Gap they average from 27.0 °F in January to 71.7 °F in July. Notably, the Lehigh and Delaware rivers flow through Northampton County. To its north is the Kittatinny Ridge, in the south are the South Mountains (part of the piedmont) and to its east are the Paxinosa Mountains.

Adjacent counties

* Monroe County (north) * Warren County, New Jersey (east) * Bucks County (south) * Lehigh County (west) * Carbon County (northwest)

National protected areas

* Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area (part) * Middle Delaware National Scenic River (part)

Demographics

As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 312,951, reflecting growth of 5.1% over 2010. As of the 2010 census, the county was 81.0% White Non-Hispanic, 5.0% Black or African American, 0.2% Native American or Alaskan Native, 2.4% Asian, 0.0% Native Hawaiian, 2.2% were two or more races, and 3.8% were some other race. 10.5% of the population were of Hispanic or Latino ancestry.

2020 census

Economy

Northampton County is part of the larger

metropolitan region, which was historically a global leader in heavy

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

. As of 2023, the Lehigh Valley's

gross domestic product Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the total market value of all the final goods and services produced and rendered in a specific time period by a country or countries. GDP is often used to measure the economic performanc ...

(GDP) was $ billion, led by its manufacturing sector, which comprised $9 billion, or 16 percent. The county served as the global headquarters of

, founded in 1857 and based in

, which was the nation's second-largest steel manufacturer after U.S. Steel for most of the 20th century. In 1982, Bethlehem Steel reported an unexpected loss of US$1.5 billion, and responded by promptly shutting down much of its operations. In 2001, the company declared bankruptcy, and it was dissolved in 2003. The plight of Bethlehem Steel is often cited as a prominent example of the impact of

deindustrialization Deindustrialization is a process of social and economic change caused by the removal or reduction of industrial capacity or activity in a country or region, especially of heavy industry or manufacturing industry. There are different interpr ...

associated with 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 ...

regions of the U.S. during the late 20th century. The county is also home to the global headquarters of C. F. Martin & Company, based in

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

, which manufacturers Martin Guitars, used by

Johnny Cash John R. Cash (born J. R. Cash; February 26, 1932 – September 12, 2003) was an American singer-songwriter. Most of his music contains themes of sorrow, moral tribulation, and redemption, especially songs from the later stages of his career. ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

Hank Williams Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. An early pioneer of country music, he is regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of the 20th century. W ...

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but he left for Atlanta in 1997 with fellow guitarist Clay Cook, with whom he formed the short-liv ...

, and other prominent guitarists.

Government

Northampton is one of the seven counties in Pennsylvania which has adopted a

home rule Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the ...

. Voters elect a county executive, a nine-person county council, a county controller, and a county district attorney. The executive, controller, district attorney, and five of the nine council members are elected at large by all voters in the county. The other four members of the county council are elected from

single-member district A single-member district or constituency is an electoral district represented by a single officeholder. It contrasts with a multi-member district, which is represented by multiple officeholders. In some countries, such as Australia and India ...

s, which they represent. This weighted structure of county government favors the majority of voters. The county's row officers are nominated by the county executive and approved by county council.

Politics

As of January 8, 2024, there were 219,719 registered voters in Northampton County * Democratic: 95,780 (43.59%) * Republican: 80,828 (36.79%) * No affiliation: 32,480 (14.78%) * Other parties: 10,631 (4.84%) Northampton County is considered one of Pennsylvania's "swing counties," with statewide winners carrying it in most cases. As of 2024, the last presidential election where Northampton County did not back the statewide winner was in 1948. In the 2024 U.S. Senate election in Pennsylvania, Republican

Dave McCormick David Harold McCormick (born August 17, 1965) is an American politician, businessman, and former United States Army, Army officer serving since 2025 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States Senate, United States senato ...

won the election and Northampton County, while losing

Erie County, Pennsylvania Erie County is the northernmost county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 270,876. Its county seat is Erie. The county was created in 1800 and later organized in 1803. The county is part of the Nort ...

. The county also closely mirrored the 2024 U.S. presidential election in Pennsylvania, which was won by Republican

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

(50.2% to 48.5%), compared to Trump winning Northampton County 50.4% to 48.62%.

Voting machine problems

2019 election

In November 2019, municipal elections were in Pennsylvania in November 2019, and the county's result tabulations were plagued with problems caused by newly purchased voting machines, known as ExpressVoteXL, which were manufactured and sold to the county by Election Systems & Software (ES&S), an

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

-based company, as representing a luxury one-stop voting system. According to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' and other media, a few minutes after polls closed in the county in 2019, panic began to spread through the county's election offices as it became evident that vote totals in one judge's race showed one candidate, Abe Kassis, a Democrat, had received just 164 votes out of 55,000 ballots across more than the 100 precincts in the county; Some precinct machines reported zero votes for him. The ES&S voting system, which is used in other Pennsylvania jurisdictions, features a touch screen with a paper ballot backup. County officials ultimately calculated results by counting paper ballots, which showed Kassis actually won the election by 1,054 votes, according to unofficial results that were announced on November 6. The election results were later certified following a canvass and audit, and no challenges to the results were filed.

2023 election

On November 7, 2023, ExpressVoteXL machines again malfunctioned in calculating votes for Superior Court of Pennsylvania judges with the machines switching "yes" and "no" votes on the summary display of votes on whether the judges should be retained. The county's director of administration, Charles Dertinger, attributed the problem to the summary display and not the actual ballots.

County executives

State representatives

Source: * Milou Mackenzie, Republican, 131st district * Steve Samuelson, Democrat, 135th district * Robert L. Freeman, Democrat, 136th district * Joe Emrick, Republican, 137th district * Ann Flood, Republican, 138th district * Zach Mako, Republican, 183rd district

State senators

Source: * Nick Miller, Democrat, 14th district * Lisa Boscola, Democrat, 18th district

United States House of Representatives

* Ryan Mackenzie, Republican, 7th district

United States Senate

, Republican *

John Fetterman John Karl Fetterman ( ; born August 15, 1969) is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from Pennsylvania, a seat he has held since 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he served from 2006 to 2019 as the mayor o ...

, Democrat

Education

Colleges and universities

Lafayette College Lafayette College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Easton, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1826 by James Madison Porter and other citizens in Easton, the college first held classes in 18 ...

, Easton *

Lehigh University Lehigh University (LU), in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, is a private university, private research university. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been mixed ...

* Moravian University, Bethlehem * Northampton County Area Community College, Bethlehem Township * Respect Graduate School, Bethlehem

Public school districts

School districts include: * Bangor Area School District ** Bangor Area High School, Bangor * Bethlehem Area School District ** Freedom High School, Bethlehem Township ** Liberty High School,

* Catasauqua Area School District ** Catasauqua High School,

* Easton Area School District **

Easton Area High School Easton Area High School is a large four-year public high school located in Easton, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley area of eastern Pennsylvania. It is one of nine public schools and the only high school in the Easton Area School District. As ...

, Easton * Nazareth Area School District ** Nazareth Area High School,

* Northampton Area School District ** Northampton Area High School,

* Northern Lehigh School District * Pen Argyl Area School District ** Pen Argyl Area High School, Pen Argyl * Saucon Valley School District ** Saucon Valley High School, Hellertown * Wilson Area School District ** Wilson Area High School, Easton

Public charter schools

* Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts, Bethlehem

Private high schools

* Bethlehem Catholic High School, Bethlehem * Moravian Academy, Bethlehem * Notre Dame High School, Easton

Transportation

Air transportation

Air transport to and from Northampton County is available through

Lehigh Valley International Airport Lehigh Valley International Airport , formerly Allentown–Bethlehem–Easton International Airport, is a domestic airport located in Hanover Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, Hanover Township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. Lehigh Valley I ...

in Hanover Township, which is located approximately northwest of

and west-southwest of Easton.

Bus transportation

Public bus service in Northampton County is available through LANta. A shuttle bus service called the Bethlehem Loop provides public transportation services in

NJ Transit New Jersey Transit Corporation, branded as NJ Transit or NJTransit and often shortened to NJT, is a state-owned public transportation system that serves the U.S. state of New Jersey and portions of the states of New York and Pennsylvania. I ...

provides service from Easton's Centre Square to the Phillipsburg area.

Major highways

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Telecommunications

Northampton County was once served only by the 215 area code from 1947 (when the

North American Numbering Plan The North American Numbering Plan (NANP) is an integrated telephone numbering plan for twenty-five regions in twenty countries, primarily in North America and the Caribbean. This group is historically known as World Zone 1, World Numbering Zone ...

of the

Bell System The Bell System was a system of telecommunication companies, led by the Bell Telephone Company and later by the AT&T Corporation, American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T), that dominated the telephone services industry in North America fo ...

went into effect) until 1994. With the county's growing population, however, Northampton County was afforded area code 610 in 1994. Today, Northampton County is covered by 610 except for the Portland exchange which uses 570. An overlay area code, 484, was added to the 610 service area in 1999. A plan to introduce

area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

835 as an additional overlay was rescinded in 2001.

Recreation

There are two Pennsylvania state parks in Northampton County: * Delaware Canal State Park follows the course of the old Delaware Canal along the

from Easton in Northampton County to

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 ...

in Bucks County. *

Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center Jacobsburg Environmental Education Center is a List of Pennsylvania state parks, Pennsylvania state park near Wind Gap, Pennsylvania, Wind Gap, in Bushkill Township, Pennsylvania, Bushkill Township, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton ...

Communities

7th and Main Street intersection in Tatamy PA during sundown

Delaware River view from Forks PA looking north

The following cities, boroughs, and townships are located in Northampton County:

Cities

(partly in Lehigh County) * Easton (county seat)

Boroughs

* Bangor *

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

* Chapman * East Bangor * Freemansburg * Glendon * Hellertown *

* North Catasauqua *

* Pen Argyl * Portland * Roseto * Stockertown * Tatamy * Walnutport * West Easton * Wilson * Wind Gap

Townships

* Allen *

* Bushkill * East Allen *

Forks In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from 'pitchfork') is a Eating utensil, utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tine (structural), tines with whic ...

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 ...

* Lehigh * Lower Mount Bethel * Lower Nazareth * Lower Saucon *

Moore Moore may refer to: Language * Mooré language, spoken in West Africa People * Moore (surname) ** List of people with surname Moore * Moore Crosthwaite (1907–1989), a British diplomat and ambassador * Moore Disney (1765–1846), a senior ...

Palmer Palmer may refer to: People and fictional characters * Palmer (pilgrim), a medieval European pilgrim to the Holy Land * Palmer (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Palmer (surname), including a list of people and f ...

* Plainfield * Upper Mount Bethel * Upper Nazareth * Washington * Williams

Census-designated places

Census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

s are unincorporated communities designated by the U.S. Census Bureau for the purposes of compiling demographic data. They are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law. * Ackermanville *

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

* Cherryville * Chestnut Hill * Eastlawn Gardens * Martins Creek * Middletown * Morgan Hill * Old Orchard * Palmer Heights * Raubsville

Other unincorporated places

* Beersville * Berlinsville * Butztown * Chickentown * Christian Springs * Colesville * Danielsville * Emanuelsville * Flicksville * Franks Corner * Hanoverville * Hollo * Katellen * Klecknersville * Moorestown * Mount Bethel * Newburg * Schoenersville * Seidersville *

Slateford Slateford () is an area of Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland. It is east of the Water of Leith. The former village of Slateford lies on the Lanark Road where it crosses the Water of Leith, south west of Slateford Station. The name "Slatefo ...

* Treichlers * Wassergass * Zucksville

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Northampton County. † ''county seat''

Notable people

References

External links

Official websiteNorthampton County news
at Lehigh Valley Live

" ''The Morning Call'', August 18, 2006 {{coord, 40.75, -75.31, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-PA_source:UScensus1990 1752 establishments in Pennsylvania Lehigh Valley Populated places established in 1752