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The Delaware Valley, sometimes referred to as Greater Philadelphia or the Philadelphia metropolitan area, is a 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 nation and North America, and the 68th-largest metropolitan region in the world.
In addition to Philadelphia, other major urban 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. The Philadelphia metropolitan area's gross domestic product (GDP) exceeds $518 billion, making it the tenth-largest metropolitan economy in the nation as of 2022.
The Delaware Valley has been influential in the nation's history and economy. The area has been home to many people and sites significant to American culture, history, and politics. Philadelphia is sometimes known as "The Birthplace of America",[4] since it served 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 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 eight Ivy League universities in the nation. Other universities and colleges and Philadelphia 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 2023, metropolitan Philadelphia had entered the ranks of the top five U.S. venture capital centers, facilitated by its relative proximity to the New York metropolitan area and its entrepreneurial and financial ecosystems.[7] Elsewhere in the Delaware Valley, South Jersey has emerged as an East Coast epicenter for logistics and major warehouses.[8]
Geography
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.
Metropolitan statistical area (MSA)
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1820 | 171,430 | — | |
| 1830 | 228,203 | 33.1% | |
| 1840 | 305,278 | 33.8% | |
| 1850 | 467,053 | 53.0% | |
| 1860 | 636,029 | 36.2% | |
| 1870 | 841,230 | 32.3% | |
| 1880 | 1,062,677 | 26.3% | |
| 1890 | 1,391,157 | 30.9% | |
| 1900 | 1,892,496 | 36.0% | |
| 1910 | 2,268,209 | 19.9% | |
| 1920 | 2,714,271 | 19.7% | |
| 1930 | 3,137,040 | 15.6% | |
| 1940 | 3,299,637 | 5.2% | |
| 1950 | 3,671,048 | 11.3% | |
| 1960 | 4,757,462 | 29.6% | |
| 1970 | 5,317,407 | 11.8% | |
| 1980 | 5,240,039 | −1.5% | |
| 1990 | 5,435,468 | 3.7% | |
| 2000 | 5,687,147 | 4.6% | |
| 2010 | 5,965,343 | 4.9% | |
| 2020 | 6,245,051 | 4.7% | |
| 2022 (est.) | 6,241,164 | −0.1% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
Philadelphia is located in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes:
- Camden, NJ Metropolitan Division
- Philadelphia, PA Metropolitan Division
- Wilmington, DE-NJ Metropolitan Division
Combined statistical area (CSA)
Philadelphia-Reading-Camden Combined Statistical Area includes:
- Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington MSA (11 counties, as defined above)
- Berks County, Pennsylvania, comprising the Reading, PA MSA
- Atlantic County, New Jersey, comprising the Atlantic City-Hammonton, NJ MSA
- Cape May County, New Jersey, comprising the Ocean City, NJ MSA
- Cumberland County, New Jersey, comprising the Vineland-Bridgeton, NJ MSA
- Kent County, Delaware, comprising the Dover, DE MSA
Delaware 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]
Population
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.
Economy
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.
Subregions
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.
Media market
The Delaware Valley and several areas bordering up on it, including the Lehigh Valley, are part of the Philadelphia media market, the fourth-largest media market in the nation as of 2023.[14]
Components of Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD Metropolitan Statistical Area
| County | 2021 Estimate | 2020 Census | Change | Area | Density |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia County | 1,576,251 | 1,603,797 | −1.72% | 134.28 sq mi (347.8 km2) | 11,739/sq mi (4,532/km2) |
| Montgomery County | 860,578 | 856,553 | +0.47% | 483 sq mi (1,250 km2) | 1,782/sq mi (688/km2) |
| Bucks County | 646,098 | 646,538 | −0.07% | 604 sq mi (1,560 km2) | 1,070/sq mi (413/km2) |
| Delaware County | 573,849 | 576,830 | −0.52% | 184 sq mi (480 km2) | 3,119/sq mi (1,204/km2) |
| New Castle County | 571,708 | 570,719 | +0.17% | 426 sq mi (1,100 km2) | 1,342/sq mi (518/km2) |
| Chester County | 538,649 | 534,413 | +0.79% | 751 sq mi (1,950 km2) | 717/sq mi (277/km2) |
| Camden County | 523,771 | 523,485 | +0.05% | 221.26 sq mi (573.1 km2) | 2,367/sq mi (914/km2) |
| Burlington County | 464,269 | 461,860 | +0.52% | 798.58 sq mi (2,068.3 km2) | 581/sq mi (224/km2) |
| Gloucester County | 304,477 | 302,294 | +0.72% | 322 sq mi (830 km2) | 946/sq mi (365/km2) |
| Salem County | 65,046 | 64,837 | +0.32% | 331.9 sq mi (860 km2) | 196/sq mi (76/km2) |
| Cecil County | 103,725 | 104,870 | −1.09% | 418 sq mi (1,080 km2) | 251/sq mi (97/km2) |
| Total MSA Population | 6,228,601 | 6,245,051 | −0.26% | 4,602.02 sq mi (11,919.2 km2) | 1,353/sq mi (523/km2) |
Additional Components of Philadelphia-Camden-Vineland, PA-NJ-DE-MD Combined Statistical Area
| County | 2021 Estimate | 2020 Census | Change | Area | Density |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berks County | 429,342 | 428,849 | +0.11% | 857 sq mi (2,220 km2) | 501/sq mi (193/km2) |
| Atlantic County | 274,966 | 274,534 | +0.16% | 555.7 sq mi (1,439 km2) | 495/sq mi (191/km2) |
| Kent County | 184,149 | 181,851 | +1.26% | 586 sq mi (1,520 km2) | 314/sq mi (121/km2) |
| Cumberland County | 153,627 | 154,152 | −0.34% | 483.7 sq mi (1,253 km2) | 318/sq mi (123/km2) |
| Cape May County | 95,661 | 95,263 | +0.42% | 251.42 sq mi (651.2 km2) | 380/sq mi (147/km2) |
| Total CSA Population | 7,366,346 | 7,379,700 | −0.18% | 7,335.84 sq mi (18,999.7 km2) | 1,004/sq mi (388/km2) |
Largest municipalities
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The following municipalities are all within the Philadelphia-Reading-Camden combined statistical area and part of the Delaware Valley: