The National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum
The Pennsylvania Steel Industry Today
Although Pennsylvania’s iron and steel industry is reduced from past centuries, it remains a crucial part of the state’s economy.  The Pennsylvania steel industry continues to generate wealth and economic activity and employ a significant number of people.

The current steel producers in Pennsylvania include more than twenty companies operating more than thirty sites. The Pennsylvania steel industry’s direct economic impact includes more than 12,000 jobs and more than $2.8 billion in total value added to the state economy.  Including indirect and induced impact, the industry helps employ about 80,000 jobs in the state and adds more than $9 billion in total value to the economy.*

Fun facts about the steel industry in Pennsylvania:*
 •  The steel industry in Pennsylvania remains concentrated in the west and southeast.
 •  Each job in the steel industry supports more than five jobs in the Pennsylvania economy.
 •  The average wage in the steel industry ($70,000) is significantly higher than the private sector average ($45,000).
 •  In 2010, Pennsylvania had seven counties with more than 1,500 people employed in the steel industry.

Despite decades of closures and layoffs, despite the 2008 economic recession, and despite the influence of foreign steel, Pennsylvania’s steel industry continues to be a vital part of the state’s economy, and will be for many years to come.

*Pennsylvania Steel Alliance’s “The Economic Impact of the Steel Industry in Pennsylvania” report published in 2011.