385,655 people (2024 Census estimate, +3.0% since 2020)
345 square miles of land · 1,117 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
42 active community water systems list Lehigh County in the area they serve, reporting 258,637 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| LCA ALLENTOWN DIVISION surface water · local government · PA3390024 | 118,000 served |
| LCA WLSA CENTRAL DIVISION buys surface water · local government · PA3390073 | 47,693 served |
| SWT MAIN SYSTEM buys surface water · local government · PA3390065 | 14,500 served |
| EMMAUS BOROUGH PUBLIC WATER groundwater · local government · PA3390032 | 14,000 served |
| WHITEHALL TWP AUTHORITY groundwater · local government · PA3390081 | 13,063 served |
| SALISBURY TWP WATER SYSTEM buys surface water · local government · PA3390062 | 8,522 served |
| UPPER SAUCON TWP WATER SUPPLY buys surface water · local government · PA3390077 | 7,300 served |
| CATASAUQUA MUN WATER WORKS groundwater · local government · PA3390044 | 6,598 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 776 people were held in Lehigh County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 322 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 759.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
9 school districts have their office in Lehigh County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $407.2 million — $349.4 million to run schools, about $21,856 per student, plus $26.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $130.6 million local (mostly property tax), $265.4 million state, $66.9 million federal. Long-term debt: $194.6 million.
Spent $228.9 million — $194.1 million to run schools, about $19,736 per student, plus $16.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $167.3 million local (mostly property tax), $42.7 million state, $13.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $141 million.
Spent $167.5 million — $148.7 million to run schools, about $18,647 per student, plus $6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $131.9 million local (mostly property tax), $41.2 million state, $4.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $25 million.
Spent $110.6 million — $76.8 million to run schools, about $18,665 per student, plus $22 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $58.2 million local (mostly property tax), $26.6 million state, $8.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $102.2 million.
Spent $70.7 million — $58.7 million to run schools, about $19,086 per student, plus $5.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $60.6 million local (mostly property tax), $16.5 million state, $1.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $47.6 million.
Spent $51.9 million — $41.1 million to run schools, about $20,816 per student, plus $5.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $34.2 million local (mostly property tax), $14.6 million state, $1.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $41.8 million.
Spent $37.5 million — $32.2 million to run schools, about $20,446 per student, plus $1.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $22 million local (mostly property tax), $15.9 million state, $2.7 million federal. Long-term debt: $20.7 million.
Spent $44.2 million — $34.5 million to run schools, about $23,182 per student, plus $3.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $35.1 million local (mostly property tax), $11.9 million state, $1.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $36.7 million.
And 1 more.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Lehigh County about $128.3 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively Moderate.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
378 bridges in Lehigh County: 113 in good condition, 224 fair, and 41 poor (10.8%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| RAMP AB over PA TPK (I-476) · built 1956 | 21,503 vehicles a day |
| SR1011 (8TH AVE) over NORFOLK SOUTHERN RR · built 1967 | 18,578 vehicles a day |
| BASIN STREET over LITTLE LEHIGH CREEK · built 1959 | 14,700 vehicles a day |
| SR 329(LR 175) over LEHIGH RIVER · built 1933 | 13,934 vehicles a day |
| HAMILTON STREET over JORDAN CREEK & RJCN · built 1973 | 13,600 vehicles a day |
| SR 2017(LR39025) over LITTLE LEHIGH CREEK · built 1957 | 9,297 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $88.7 million of work in Lehigh County in fiscal 2025, about $237 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Pennsylvania are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Lehigh County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Lehigh County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Pennsylvania: the state government and every county in Pennsylvania.
Nearby counties: Northampton County (18 mi) · Carbon County (22 mi) · Berks County (22 mi) · Montgomery County (30 mi) · Bucks County (32 mi) · Schuylkill County (33 mi).