NEPA ranks as a top-performing region for economic development nationwide

Northeast Pennsylvania once again ranked as one of the country’s top-performing regions for economic development, continuing a six-year streak.

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area ranked sixth overall for its tier of metro areas in Site Selection Magazine’s 2025 Governor’s Cup Awards, according to Penn’s Northeast, a Pittston-based collective aiming to promote new investments, jobs and business opportunities by promoting Northeast Pennsylvania. The Allentown/Bethlehem/Easton area placed first, followed by the Des Moines/West Des Moines region in Iowa. The region falls into the magazine’s second tier, which is for populations between 200,000 and 1 million people.

The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area also placed seventh for top metros in the Northeast region of the United States; the New York/Newark/Jersey City region topped that category.

“It goes to show what we have been telling people for years — this is a great place to do business,” said John Augustine, Penn’s Northeast president and CEO. “The rankings really verify that within the development community.”

The rankings measure completed economic development projects across the country, according to Penn’s Northeast. The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area had 26. First place was 49 in the Allentown/Bethelehem/Easton area.

Penn’s Northeast worked with public and private partners, including the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce’s SLIBCO, Mericle and NorthPoint, to compile and submit the information for the awards, Augustine said.

Site Selection Magazine is a go-to industry publication to see what areas of the country are in demand, he said.

Augustine noted that not only has Northeast Pennsylvania continued its six-year streak for economic development, but it climbed the ranks, rising from ninth place overall in the 2024 awards to sixth for the new 2025 awards. Hundreds of metropolitan areas throughout the country fall into the same tier, he said.

“It’s a big deal,” Augustine said.

Although data center developers have rapidly set their sights on Lackawanna and Luzerne counties over the past year, the industry was only a small factor in the awards, which are based on completed projects. Augustine estimated it was about 50% warehouse-distribution industry, 40% manufacturing and 10% data centers.

He expects data centers to play a larger role moving forward, with less warehousing and distribution. New warehouses will also likely be downsized from 1-million-square-foot buildings to smaller facilities in the 200,000- to- 500,000-square-foot range, he said.

Augustine attributes Northeast Pennsylvania’s success to its location. Companies in Northeast Pennsylvania can access one-third of the entire U.S. population and one-half of Canada’s within a day’s drive, which especially helps the warehousing industry, Augustine said.

“We use these rankings also to be proactive marketing Northeastern Pennsylvania by using it to go after international companies that are looking to do business in the United States,” he said. “Having this ranking, we’re able to say, ‘Don’t just take our word for it. Look at where we ranked across the whole United States.This is an area where your company wants to be.’”