The Lehigh Valley is home to seven of Pennsylvania’s top 100 high schools, according to a new ranking by U.S. News and World Report.
The list was culled from nearly 25,000 public high schools based on college readiness, state assessments, underserved student performance, college curriculum breadth, and graduation rates. In Pennsylvania, 665 made the list. The Lehigh Valley Schools among the top 100 include:
- Lehigh Valley Academy Regional Charter School
- Southern Lehigh High School
- Saucon Valley High School
- Nazareth Area High School
- Lehigh Valley Charter High School for the Arts
- Parkland High School
- Wilson Area High School
“We are proud to have so many exemplary schools here in the Lehigh Valley. Schools that provide both foundational core academic work and in-depth career exploration set our future workforce up for success and we know that’s a high priority for parents today,” said Karianne Gelinas, Vice President of Regional Partnership and Talent Strategies at Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation (LVEDC).
The strength of the educational system is tied to a region’s economic health. In addition to preparing the future workforce, schools also factor into where current talent wants to live and raise a family.
LVEDC research shows that good schools are among the top factors people consider when moving into a region. The quality of kindergarten through 12th grade education consistently ranks in high in the quality of life factors that people consider when moving, just below core drivers such as housing and cost of living.
Talent attraction is an important part of LVEDC’s mission to recruit and retain businesses that provide family-sustaining wages because the availability of a skilled workforce plays an important role in company decisions on where to locate.
The Lehigh Valley, with a population topping 694,000, is among the fastest growing regions in Pennsylvania, particularly for young adults, because of its strong quality of life.
Earlier this year, 86% of Lehigh Valley residents who responded to the Lehigh Valley Quality of Life Survey described the quality of life in the region as “excellent” or “good.”
Zip Codes in the Lehigh Valley were among the America’s hottest in 2021 , 2022, and 2023, according to Realtor.com, a leading source of real estate analytics.