| Delaware Valley Greater Philadelphia Philadelphia metropolitan area | |
| Other Name: | Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA |
| Settlement Type: | Combined Statistical Area |
| Map Alt: | Map of Greater Philadelphia |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | States |
| Subdivision Name1: | Pennsylvania New Jersey Delaware Maryland |
| Subdivision Name2: | ---- |
| Seat Type: | Principal city |
| Seat: | Philadelphia |
| Parts Type: | Satellite cities and towns |
| Parts Style: | coll |
| Parts: | Camden Wilmington Atlantic City Reading Trenton Vineland Conshohocken Dover Chester Upper Darby Media Middletown Township Hammonton Pennsauken Township Norristown Doylestown Cherry Hill West Chester Evesham Washington Township Millville Salem Cape May Court House Lower Township The Wildwoods Brigantine Ventnor City Margate City Ocean City Sea Isle City Haverford Bridgeton Coatesville Lower Merion Gloucester Township Downingtown Phoenixville New Castle Pottstown King of Prussia Bensalem Township Burlington City and Burlington Township Middle Township (Cape May County) Mount Holly Newark Hamilton Township (Mays Landing) Woodbury Elkton Cheltenham Township Abington Township Bristol Township Mount Laurel Northampton Township Winslow Township New Hope Falls Township Middletown Township (Bucks County) Egg Harbor Township Galloway Township Pennsville Maurice River Township |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Urban Km2: | 5,131.7 |
| Area Urban Sq Mi: | 1,981.4 |
| Area Metro Km2: | 13,256 |
| Area Metro Sq Mi: | 5,118 |
| Population As Of: | 2021 est. |
| Population Note: | MSA/CSA = 2021, Urban = 2010 |
| Population Density Metro Sq Mi: | 1,217.00 |
| Population Urban: | 5,441,567 (5th) |
| Population Blank1 Title: | MSA |
| Population Blank1: | 6,228,601 (7th) |
| Population Blank2 Title: | CSA |
| Population Blank2: | 7,366,346 (9th) |
| Demographics Type2: | GDP |
| Demographics2 Footnotes: | [1] |
| Demographics2 Title1: | MSA |
| Demographics2 Info1: | $518.5 billion (2022) |
| Timezone: | EST |
| Utc Offset: | −5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EST |
| Utc Offset Dst: | −4 |
| Elevation M: | 0 - 329 |
| Elevation Ft: | 0 - 1,080 |
| Elevation Footnotes: | [2] [3] |
| Area Code: | 215/267/445, 302, 410/443/667, 609/640, 610/484/835, 717/223, 856 |
| Area Code Type: | Area codes |
The Delaware Valley, sometimes referred to as Greater Philadelphia or the Philadelphia metropolitan area, is a major metropolitan region in the Northeast United States that centers around Philadelphia, the nation's sixth-most populous city, and spans parts of four U.S. states: southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey, northern Delaware, and the northern Eastern Shore of Maryland. With a core metropolitan statistical area population of 6.288 million residents and a combined statistical area population of 7.366 million as of the 2020 census, the Delaware Valley is the eighth-largest metropolitan region in the United States and the 68th-largest metropolitan region in the world.
In addition to Philadelphia, other major population centers in the Delaware Valley include Reading, Upper Darby Township, and Chester in Pennsylvania; Atlantic City, Camden, Vineland, and Cherry Hill in South Jersey; and Wilmington and Dover in Delaware. As of 2022, the Philadelphia metropolitan area's gross domestic product (GDP) exceeds US$518 billion, making it the tenth-largest metropolitan economy in the nation.[1]
The Delaware Valley has been influential in the nation's history and economy and home to many people and sites significant to American culture, history, and politics. Philadelphia is sometimes known as "The Birthplace of America",[4] a reference to is role as the revolutionary capital during the colonial era, where the Second Continental Congress gathered at Independence Hall to unanimously adopt the Declaration of Independence, authorize the formation of the Continental Army, and appoint George Washington its commander to resist the British. Following the Continental Army's victory, Philadelphia served as the nation's first capital for most of the 18th century until 1800, when construction of Washington, D.C. was completed. In 1789, the U.S. Constitution, the world's longest-standing body of federal law, was ratified at Independence Hall in Philadelphia in 1789.
The Delaware Valley is one of the nation's leading regions for academia and academic research with a considerable number of globally-known and highly ranked universities, including the University of Pennsylvania, one of the nation's eight Ivy League universities. Other major universities and colleges in the region include Drexel University, Thomas Jefferson University, Rowan University, Villanova University, Saint Joseph's University, Temple University, Rutgers University–Camden, La Salle University, the University of Delaware, Stockton University, and others.[5]
Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley are a biotechnology hub.[6] As of 2024, metropolitan Philadelphia ranks as one of the Big Five U.S. venture capital hubs, facilitated by its proximity to both New York City's entrepreneurial and financial ecosystems and to the federal regulatory environment of Washington, D.C.[7] Elsewhere in the Delaware Valley, South Jersey has emerged as an East Coast epicenter for logistics and major warehouses.[8]
Culturally, the region is home to the dialect or accent known as Philadelphia English, shares a unique cuisine known as Philadelphia cuisine, has played a formidable role in popular music, and is known for having one of the nation's most passionate and devoted sports cultures centered around its five professional sports teams.
See also: Geography of Pennsylvania. The Delaware Valley is geographically associated and proximate to the Delaware River and its three primary tributaries, the Schuylkill River, Lehigh River, and Brandywine Creek.
U.S. government agencies have reached various definitions of the Delaware Valley and metropolitan Philadelphia. The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) defines metropolitan statistical area (MSAs), which are regions with relatively high population densities at their cores and close economic ties throughout their respective areas. MSAs are further combined into combined statistical areas (CSAs), reflecting commuting patterns. Neither is a formal administrative division.
Philadelphia is located in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes:
Philadelphia-Reading-Camden Combined Statistical Area includes:
See main article: Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission. The Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission (DVRPC) serves all of the counties of the Delaware Valley MSA except for the counties in the Wilmington, DE-MD-NJ Metropolitan Division. However, in addition to the Delaware Valley, DVRPC's jurisdiction includes Mercer County, New Jersey, which OMB classifies as the Trenton-Princeton, NJ MSA and part of the larger New York-Newark CSA.[9]
As of the 2020 U.S. census, the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area is the seventh-largest MSA in the nation with 6,245,051 people.[10] As of 2020, the Philadelphia–Reading–Camden, PA-NJ-DE-MD CSA is the nation's ninth-largest combined statistical area with a population of 7,379,700,
The Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area's population of slightly over six million people exceeds the populations of whole nations, including those of Lebanon, Denmark, and Nicaragua.
As of 2021, the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area has a gross domestic product of $477.58 billion, the tenth-largest among the nation's MSAs. The MSA's nominal gross domestic product of $431 billion is comparable to countries, such as Belgium, Iran, and Thailand.[11] Metropolitan Philadelphia is one of the top five American venture capital hubs, credited to its proximity to the New York metropolitan area and its financial and tech and biotechnology ecosystems.
At least two educational institutions, Delaware Valley Regional High School in Alexandria Township, New Jersey, and Delaware Valley College in Doylestown Township, Pennsylvania, and a now defunct local newspaper, The Delaware Valley News in Frenchtown, New Jersey, are named for the region.
See also: Eastern Shore of Maryland and South Jersey. The Philadelphia-Reading-Camden combined statistical area includes sixteen counties in four states. The five Pennsylvania counties in the metropolitan statistical area are collectively known as Southeastern Pennsylvania.[12] In addition to Philadelphia, major municipalities in Southeastern Pennsylvania include the inner suburbs of Upper Darby Township and Bensalem Township. Berks County, which forms its own MSA and contains the CSA's second largest city, Reading, is occasionally not considered to be part of Southeastern Pennsylvania and is sometimes assigned to South Central Pennsylvania.
The seven New Jersey counties in the CSA are each located in South Jersey,[13] and include: Atlantic County, Cape May County, and Cumberland County each form their own respective metropolitan statistical areas. Atlantic City, Cape May County, New Jersey, and the southern Jersey Shore, including Margate City, Ventnor City, the Wildwoods, and Sea Isle City, are major tourist destinations for people from inside and outside of the Delaware Valley. Other major municipalities in South Jersey include Cherry Hill and Camden, which is across the Delaware River, east of Philadelphia.
The two counties of Delaware in the CSA constitute a majority of Delaware's land mass and population. Wilmington is the most populous city in Delaware and the fifth-most populous municipality in the Delaware Valley. The lone Maryland county in the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden Combined Statistical Area is part of the region known as the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
The Delaware Valley and several areas bordering it, including the Lehigh Valley, are part of the Philadelphia media market, the fourth-largest media market in the nation as of 2023.[14]
| County | 2021 Estimate | 2020 Census | Change | Area | Density |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia County | 134.28sqmi | ||||
| Montgomery County | 483sqmi | ||||
| Bucks County | 604sqmi | ||||
| Delaware County | 184sqmi | ||||
| New Castle County | 426sqmi | ||||
| Chester County | 751sqmi | ||||
| Camden County | 221.26sqmi | ||||
| Burlington County | 798.58sqmi | ||||
| Gloucester County | 322sqmi | ||||
| Salem County | 331.9sqmi | ||||
| Cecil County | 418sqmi | ||||
| Total MSA Population | 4602.02sqmi |
| County | 2021 Estimate | 2020 Census | Change | Area | Density |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berks County | 857sqmi | ||||
| Atlantic County | 555.7sqmi | ||||
| Kent County | 586sqmi | ||||
| Cumberland County | 483.7sqmi | ||||
| Cape May County | 251.42sqmi | ||||
| Total CSA Population | 7335.84sqmi |
See also: List of municipalities in Delaware, List of municipalities in Maryland, List of municipalities in New Jersey and List of municipalities in Pennsylvania. The following municipalities are all within the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden combined statistical area and part of the Delaware Valley:
| City | Pop.[15] | County | State | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia | 1,567,872 | Philadelphia | PA | |
| Reading | 87,575 | Berks | PA | |
| Upper Darby Township | 82,765 | Delaware | PA | |
| Camden | 74,420 | Camden | NJ | |
| Wilmington | 71,502 | New Castle | DE | |
| Cherry Hill | 70,976 | Camden | NJ | |
| Gloucester Township | 64,049 | Camden | NJ | |
| Vineland | 60,876 | Cumberland | NJ | |
| Bensalem Township | 60,354 | Bucks | PA | |
| Lower Merion Township | 58,220 | Montgomery | PA | |
| Abington Township | 55,640 | Montgomery | PA | |
| Bristol Township | 54,170 | Bucks | PA | |
| Haverford Township | 48,893 | Delaware | PA | |
| Washington Township | 48,301 | Gloucester | NJ | |
| Evesham Township | 45,578 | Burlington | NJ | |
| Middletown Township | 45,318 | Bucks | PA | |
| Egg Harbor Township | 43,747 | Atlantic | NJ | |
| Mount Laurel | 41,849 | Burlington | NJ | |
| Northampton Township | 39,562 | Bucks | PA | |
| Winslow Township | 39,417 | Camden | NJ |
When metropolitan areas were originally defined in 1950, most of the area now in the Delaware Valley was split between four metropolitan areas, or standard metropolitan areas, as they were then called. The Philadelphia SMA included Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties in Pennsylvania, and Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester counties in South Jersey. The Wilmington SMA included New Castle County in Delaware and Salem County in South Jersey. Berks County was designated as the Reading SMA and Atlantic County, New Jersey was the Atlantic City SMA.
In 1960, Cecil County, Maryland was added to what was now the Wilmington Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area (SMSA). In 1980, Cumberland County, New Jersey was defined as the Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton SMSA.
In 1990, the Philadelphia, Wilmington and Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton SMSAs were merged with the Trenton SMSA to form the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area. At the same time, Cape May County, New Jersey was added to the Atlantic City SMSA. The "Philadelphia-Wilmington-Trenton" became obsolete one census later when Trenton, New Jersey was moved to the New York-Newark-Bridgeport CSA. The Philadelphia-Wilmington-Vineland CSA included the Philadelphia-Wilmington-Camden MSA and the Vineland-Millville-Bridgeton MSA.[16]
In 2000, Kent County, Delaware was designated the Dover MSA, and Kent County and Atlantic City were added to the Philadelphia CSA in 2010. As a result of new 2010 definitions, based on a threshold of 15% labor interchange between MSAs, two additional MSAs were added, Ocean City, New Jersey and Reading, Pennsylvania. The CSA to which they belong is known as Philadelphia-Reading-Camden.[17]
Philadelphia's suburbs contain a high concentration of malls, the two largest of which have at least 5000000square feet of office space, and at least 600000square feet of retail. These are the King of Prussia mall in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, which is the largest in the U.S. (leasable sq. feet of retail space), and the Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, which was the first enclosed mall on the East Coast. In addition, the Christiana Mall in Newark, Delaware, is a popular destination due to its proximity to Interstate 95 and because of the availability of tax-free shopping in Delaware. Malls, office complexes, strip shopping plazas, expressways, and tract housing are common sights, and more and more continue to replace rolling countryside, farms, woods, and wetlands. However, due to strong opposition by residents and political officials, many acres of land have been preserved throughout the Delaware Valley. Older townships and large boroughs, such as Cheltenham, Norristown, Jenkintown, Upper Darby, and West Chester retain distinct community identities while engulfed in suburbia. The fastest-growing counties are Chester, Montgomery, Bucks, and Gloucester.
Mid-Atlantic American English and its subset, Philadelphia English, are two common dialects of American English in Philadelphia and the Delaware Valley.
The Delaware Valley has four distinct seasons with ample precipitation and is divided by the 0 °C (32 °F) January isotherm. Philadelphia and the New Jersey portion of the area, almost all of the Delaware and Maryland portions, most of Delaware County and lower Bucks County, lowland southern Chester County, and some southern and lowland areas of Montgomery County have a humid subtropical climate (Cfa according to the Köppen climate classification.) The remainder of the Delaware Valley has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa.) PRISM Climate Group at Oregon State University
Snow amounts may vary widely year-to-year and normally do vary widely within the Delaware Valley. The region has two ski resorts, Bear Creek Mountain Resort in Longswamp Township, Berks County and Spring Mountain Adventures in central Montgomery County.
Using the -3 °C January isotherm as a boundary, all of the Delaware Valley is humid subtropical. The hardiness zone in the region ranges from 6b in higher areas of Berks and northern Bucks Counties to 8a in Atlantic City and Cape May. https://planthardiness.ars.usda.gov/
Using the Trewartha climate classification system, which requires eight months to average at least 50 °F for the climate to be considered subtropical, the region only has seven such months, so the area considered Cfa by Köppen is oceanic (Do) in the Trewartha system.
See also: Thirteen Colonies. The valley was the territory of the Susquehannock and Lenape, who are recalled in place names throughout the region. The region became part of the Dutch colony of New Netherland after the exploration of Delaware Bay in 1609. The Dutch called the Delaware River the Zuyd Rivier, or South River, and considered the lands along it banks and those of its bay to be the southern flank of its province of New Netherland. In 1638, it began to be settled by Swedes, Forest Finns, Dutch, and Walloons and became the colony of New Sweden, though this was not officially recognized by the Dutch Empire which re-asserted control in 1655. The area was taken by the English in 1664.[18] The name Delaware comes from Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, who had arrived at Jamestown, Virginia in 1610, just as original settlers were about to abandon it, and thus maintaining the English foothold on the North American continent. In the early 1700s, Huguenot refugees from France by way of Germany and then England began settling in the Delaware River Valley. Specifically, they left their mark in Hunterdon County, New Jersey (Frenchtown) and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.[19]
See also: Transportation in Philadelphia. Many residents commute to jobs and travel in Philadelphia, Camden, Wilmington, and the surrounding suburbs with the help of expressways, trains, and buses. There are currently no transit connections to Reading, the second largest municipality in the region.
inter-city regional rail service from Virginia to Boston
Pennsylvania
New Jersey
Delaware
Maryland
Delaware River Bridges
See main article: List of airports in the Delaware Valley. Major:
Secondary:
The Cape May–Lewes Ferry crosses the mouth of the Delaware Bay between Cape May County, New Jersey and Sussex County, Delaware; U.S. Route 9 uses this ferry.
The Riverlink Ferry operates hourly ferry service over the Delaware River between the Camden Waterfront and Penn’s Landing in Philadelphia.[21] They also operate a special event service for concerts at Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden.[22]
Listing of the professional sports teams in the Delaware Valley
See main article: Media in Philadelphia. The two main newspapers are The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News, owned by the Philadelphia Media Network. Local television channels include KYW-TV 3 (CBS), WPVI 6 (ABC), WCAU 10 (NBC), WHYY-TV 12 (PBS), WPHL-TV 17 (MyNetworkTV), WTXF 29 (FOX), WPSG 57 (CW), and WPPX 61 (Ion). Radio stations serving the area include: WRTI, WIOQ, WDAS (AM), and WTEL.
See also: Politics of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia is heavily Democratic, having voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since 1936. The surrounding suburban counties are key political areas in Pennsylvania, which itself is an important swing state in federal politics.[23] South Jersey has consistently voted Democratic at the presidential level in recent years, although the region is slightly more Republican-leaning than North Jersey and has voted for Republicans at the state and local level.[24] New Castle County's Democratic lean and large share of Delaware's population has tended to make Delaware as a whole vote for Democrats, while the less populous Kent County is more competitive.[25] Recent well-known political figures from the Greater Philadelphia area include current U.S. President Joe Biden, former Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell and late former U.S. Senator Arlen Specter.
The following congressional districts of the United States House of Representatives are located partly or entirely in the Delaware Valley CSA. Italicized counties are not part of the CSA.
| District | Incumbent | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | PVI | Incumbent | Party | Counties | |||
| DE-AL | Lisa Blunt Rochester | D | Kent, New Castle, and Sussex | ||||
| MD-1 | Andy Harris | R | Baltimore, Caroline, Carroll, Cecil, Dorchester, Harford, Kent, Queen Anne's, Somerset, Talbot, Wicomico, and Worcester | ||||
| NJ-1 | Donald Norcross | D | Burlington, Camden, and Gloucester | ||||
| NJ-2 | Jeff Van Drew | R | Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester, Ocean, and Salem | ||||
| NJ-3 | Andy Kim | D | Burlington and Ocean | ||||
| PA-1 | Brian Fitzpatrick | R | Bucks and Montgomery | ||||
| PA-2 | Brendan Boyle | D | Philadelphia | ||||
| PA-3 | Dwight Evans | D | Philadelphia | ||||
| PA-4 | Madeleine Dean | D | Berks and Montgomery | ||||
| PA-5 | Mary Gay Scanlon | D | Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia | ||||
| PA-6 | Chrissy Houlahan | D | Berks and Chester | ||||
| PA-9 | Dan Meuser | R | Berks, Carbon, Columbia, Lebanon, Luzerne, Montour, Northumberland, and Schuylkill | ||||
Additionally, the Delaware Valley is represented in the United States Senate by the eight Senators from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.