Bethlehem, PA (population: 72,174) has two mechanical engineering schools within its city limits. Lehigh University, the highest ranked school in the city with a mechanical engineering program, has a total student population of 6,996. It is the 798th highest ranked school in the USA and the 65th highest in the state of Pennsylvania (#1 is University of Pennsylvania). To learn more about mechanical engineering programs in Bethlehem, ratemyprofessors.com has reviews of mechanical engineering professors at Lehigh University such as John Adams, Zeliha Akca, David Angstadt, Mark Arnold, Khadidja Bendjilali, and Rosemary Berger.
Mechanical Engineering students from Bethlehem schools who go on to become mechanical engineers, mechanical design engineers, mechanical drafters, mechanical designers, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 232,660 people working as mechanical engineers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $80,580. Also, Mechanical engineering technicians make on average $50,700 per year and there are about 43,580 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton-NJ area alone, there are 60 employed mechanical engineering technicians earning an average salary of $48,730. Mechanical engineers in this area earn $83,990/yr and there are 350 employed.
Bethlehem lies in Lehigh county, which is one of the 32 counties in Pennsylvania. Overall, the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton-NJ area has 330,130 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 1.2% unemployment rate, $19.60/hr average worker wage, and a $40,780 average annual salary. Thus, about 1.055 out of every 1000 jobs in Bethlehem are held by mechanical engineers, and 0.180/1000 are held by mechanical engineering technicians.
Of the 2 mechanical engineering schools in Bethlehem, only 1 has a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Lehigh University comes out as the most expensive ($24,744/yr) for mechanical engineering students, with Northampton County Area Community College as the lowest, reported at only $5,153/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Bethlehem |
| Allentown | PA | 107,685 | 6 | 40.2718 | 194 | 6.1 miles |
| Center Valley | PA | - | 2 | 15.5079 | 66 | 7.1 miles |
| Schnecksville | PA | - | 1 | 12.2036 | 108 | 13.3 miles |
| Fogelsville | PA | - | 1 | 23.1549 | 18 | 14.2 miles |
| East Stroudsburg | PA | - | 1 | 60.9016 | 70 | 27.4 miles |
| North Wales | PA | - | 1 | 28.6361 | 21 | 29.4 miles |
| Pottstown | PA | - | 2 | 23.767 | 4 | 30.4 miles |
| Reading | PA | 80,046 | 7 | 29.6919 | 274 | 35.6 miles |
| Willow Grove | PA | - | 3 | 11.6322 | 2 | 36.2 miles |
| Ewing | NJ | - | 1 | 79.0387 | 77 | 39.8 miles |
| Saint Davids | PA | - | 1 | 63.725 | 73 | 40.8 miles |
| Villanova | PA | - | 1 | 40.5194 | 89 | 41.0 miles |
| Immaculata | PA | - | 1 | 58.1716 | 78 | 42.7 miles |
| Bensalem | PA | - | 1 | 22.0218 | 10 | 43.3 miles |
| Pottsville | PA | - | 3 | 16.975 | 32 | 43.5 miles |
| Exton | PA | - | 3 | 20.3095 | 11 | 43.5 miles |
| Philadelphia | PA | 1,445,993 | 46 | 29.0143 | 1,235 | 44.7 miles |
| West Windsor | NJ | - | 1 | 10.9855 | 60 | 45.7 miles |
| Hamilton | NJ | 90,700 | 4 | 37.771 | 92 | 46.9 miles |
| Piscataway | NJ | - | 2 | 33.0605 | 6 | 47.9 miles |
| Morristown | NJ | - | 4 | 29.5898 | 111 | 48.0 miles |
| New Brunswick | NJ | 52,736 | 2 | 41.2629 | 152 | 49.3 miles |
| Media | PA | - | 3 | 15.9195 | 126 | 49.3 miles |
| Camden | NJ | 79,551 | 3 | 29.1661 | 117 | 49.7 miles |
| Plainfield | NJ | 45,854 | 4 | 21.9493 | 28 | 49.9 miles |
| Denville | NJ | - | 1 | 0.43489 | 0 | 50.1 miles |
| Wilkes Barre | PA | - | 4 | 40.1855 | 76 | 50.3 miles |
| East Brunswick | NJ | 48,086 | 0 | - | 0 | 51.8 miles |
| Parsippany | NJ | - | 1 | 29.0107 | 9 | 51.9 miles |
| Lester | PA | - | 1 | 30.6119 | 9 | 52.7 miles |