Research Report: From potential to prosperity: A strategic agenda for growth and opportunity in Southeastern PA

Posted by Brookings on September 8, 2026

Leaders across Southeastern Pennsylvania are transforming how the region competes in the global economy and creates opportunity for its residents.

The region’s assets in talent, innovation, infrastructure, and entrepreneurship are exceptional. Yet over the past decade, its economic performance has not matched its strengths. This was especially true for traded sector industries that sell goods and services outside the region and concentrate “opportunity jobs,” which provide family-sustaining wages and benefits or a pathway to achieving them.

Regional leaders identified two ambitions as essential to reversing that trend and unlocking their economy’s full potential:

• Boosting economic competitiveness. The region missed out on about 70,000 opportunity jobs in traded sectors between 2012 and 2023—gaining about half the anticipated total and falling 13 percentage points short of expected growth against national benchmarks.
• Increasing economic mobility for families. The region ranked last among the nation’s 50 most populous commuting zones in upward mobility for low-income residents. Economic mobility also declined across the region for most racial groups and other income levels.

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