Market report · Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ
The State of Outbound Sales in Allentown, 2026
How outbound selling looks across the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metro right now: who the buyers are, which trades have room, what is being built, what a rep costs to hire here. Then a 4-tool kit to work the market this month.
- 2,023business sites with 20+ people across the categories trades sell to, #64 of our 100 metros
- 21buyer sites per electrical contractor, #1 of 100 markets: the best rank of any trade here
Sites: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023; rank among the 100 metros on our market pages. Room: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023 sites per contractor in U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1, among markets with at least 10 contractors.
Executive summary Read this if nothing else
5 things to know about outbound sales in Allentown
Biggest buyer pool
Restaurants: 437 sites
with 20 or more people, the largest buyer category in Allentown-Bethlehem, ahead of retail stores (433).
Where the metro leans
Warehousing and distribution: 4.25x the U.S. mix
Also over-represented: senior living and nursing (1.87x) and auto dealerships (1.75x). Trades that serve these buyers have more of them here than the national average suggests.
Most room
Commercial Electrical: #1 of 100 markets
21 buyer sites with 20+ people for each of 49 local electrical contractors. The most crowded is commercial landscaping, #80 of 100.
Biggest reason to call
Chobani Lehigh Valley Manufacturing and Warehouse Campus, $1.2 billion
Announced September 2026, production scheduled to begin 2027. One of 4 named, sourced projects in this report.
Hiring locally
$124,700 for an in-house SDR's first year (illustrative)
At a $55,000 base salary, once commission, payroll taxes and benefits, tools, recruiting and training, turnover and manager time are added, before ramp time.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1; project sources as of 2026-09; U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Full list at the end.
Chapter 01 The market
Who buys in Allentown-Bethlehem
2,023 business sites in Allentown-Bethlehem have 20 or more people on site in the categories commercial trades sell to. That ranks #64 of the 100 metros we publish. Here is what those buyers are and where they sit.
The largest buyer categories
Sites with 20 or more people are the ones worth an SDR's time: big enough to have a facility lead, a service budget and a contract that comes up for renewal. The "vs. U.S. mix" column compares each category's share of local employment with its national share (1.00x is the U.S. average).
| Category | Sites with 20+ | All sites | vs. U.S. mix | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RestaurantsLargest pool | 437 | 1,786 | 1.45x | +18 |
| Retail stores | 433 | 2,521 | 1.36x | -5 |
| Manufacturing plants | 323 | 826 | 1.39x | +10 |
| Medical, dental and outpatient offices | 241 | 1,611 | 1.23x | +107 |
| Wholesale distributors | 168 | 814 | 0.86x | +8 |
| Senior living and nursing | 109 | 242 | 1.87x | +1 |
| Grocery stores | 81 | 451 | 1.59x | +9 |
| Trucking companies | 70 | 534 | 1.57x | +4 |
| Warehousing and distribution | 55 | 110 | 4.25x | +8 |
| Auto dealerships | 51 | 148 | 1.75x | -7 |
Allentown-Bethlehem leans toward warehousing and distribution (4.25x), senior living and nursing (1.87x) and auto dealerships (1.75x). A trade that already sells to those buyers elsewhere has a deeper pool here than the national numbers suggest, and a case study from one of them travels well on the phone.
Growing fastest over the past year, by establishment count: medical, dental and outpatient offices (+107), restaurants (+18) and manufacturing plants (+10). New sites have no incumbent vendor yet.
The metro
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ: 4 counties in this report's counts.
Lehigh County, Northampton County and Warren County hold 93% of the larger business sites, so most programs start there.
Where the sites are
| County | Sites with 20+ | Share of metro |
|---|---|---|
| Lehigh CountyStart here | 991 | 49% |
| Northampton County | 709 | 35% |
| Warren County, New Jersey | 185 | 9% |
| Carbon County | 51 | 3% |
Chapter 02 The competition
Which trades have the most room in Allentown
Buyer sites per contractor is a rough read on how crowded a trade is: more sites for each local competitor means more doors nobody else is knocking on. Each trade's Allentown figure is ranked against the other markets we track.
| Trade | Rank among markets | Sites per contractor | Contractors | 1-yr change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Commercial ElectricalMost room | #1 of 100 | 21 | 49 | -1 |
| Commercial Construction | #4 of 100 | 9.3 | 76 | +1 |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | #7 of 100 | 15 | 58 | +1 |
| Managed Service Providers | #8 of 100 | 6.5 | 167 | -7 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | #14 of 100 | 5.0 | 180 | +9 |
| Commercial Roofing | #14 of 89 | 92 | 12 | 0 |
| Paving & Asphalt | #31 of 94 | 48 | 22 | +2 |
| Fire Protection | #44 of 96 | 45 | 25 | -7 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | #42 of 86 | 69 | 17 | 0 |
| Commercial Landscaping | #80 of 100 | 2.8 | 375 | +14 |
Commercial electrical (#1), commercial construction (#4) and commercial HVAC & mechanical (#7) rank best in Allentown. For those trades a program can work longer before it calls the same building twice, and fewer competitors have already pitched each owner.
Commercial landscaping is the most crowded trade here, #80 of 100: 2.8 buyer sites for each of 375 local commercial landscaping contractors. Winning there takes a sharper reason to switch than a lower price.
Managed service providers (-7) and fire protection (-7) lost contractor establishments over the past year, so the same buildings are split among fewer firms than a year ago. Commercial landscaping (+14) and commercial cleaning & janitorial (+9) added them.
Not ranked here: commercial flooring (8 contractors). With fewer than 10 local contractors the ratio is noise, though a thin field is itself a sign of open ground.
Open programs
Our availability workbook does not cover Allentown yet. We take one client per trade per territory, so ask before you plan around it.
Chapter 03 The projects
What is being built, and who owns the buildings
4 named, sourced projects and 7 anchor owners in Allentown-Bethlehem. Each one is a reason to call that has nothing to do with your company and everything to do with the buyer's building.
The projects
- 01 · $1.2 billion Chobani Lehigh Valley Manufacturing and Warehouse Campus Announced September 2026, production scheduled to begin 2027 Chobani's 1.5 million sq ft dairy manufacturing and warehouse campus in the former Keurig Dr Pepper plant in Upper Macungie Township, Lehigh County. Converting an existing plant to dairy production means refrigeration and process mechanical work, new electrical capacity, food-grade floor coatings and sanitation-focused cleaning programs before the 2027 start. Area Development, 2026-09-04
- 02 Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg Emergency Department Expansion Under construction, expansion due fall 2026, renovations due spring 2027 A three-story addition at LVH-Muhlenberg in Bethlehem that doubles the emergency department to 83 beds and adds a helipad, imaging rooms and a 26-bed trauma recovery space. As the addition closes out in late 2026, renovation of the existing emergency space follows into 2027, keeping mechanical, electrical, flooring and painting crews on site, and the larger department adds healthcare cleaning demand. Lehigh Valley Health Network, 2025-06-04
- 03 · 90,000 sq ft LVHN Neighborhood Hospital, Hellertown Opening mid-2026 A three-story building on Main Street in Hellertown, Northampton County, with an emergency room and 10 inpatient beds on the first floor and medical offices, imaging and lab services above. A new hospital and medical office building on a remediated brownfield site needs healthcare cleaning, HVAC service, fire protection inspections and site upkeep once occupied. Lehigh Valley Health Network, 2025-03-04
- 04 · 1 million sq ft Prologis Data Center, 2500 Liberty Drive Approved by Allen Township March 2026, regional planning review April 2026 A plan to convert a 1 million sq ft warehouse at 2500 Liberty Drive in Allen Township, Northampton County, into a data center. A warehouse-to-data-center conversion is mostly electrical and mechanical work: new power distribution, cooling systems and upgraded fire suppression, plus roofing work to support rooftop equipment. Lehigh Valley Public Media, 2026-04-22
Projects current as of 2026-09; each source is linked on its card. Values are as reported by the source.
The anchor owners
Health systems, campuses, large employers and industrial parks hold the biggest concentrations of commercial buildings in Allentown-Bethlehem. One relationship with a facilities team here can cover many buildings.
Health system · Allentown, Lehigh County
Lehigh Valley Health Network (Jefferson Health)
LVHN says it comprises 15 hospital campuses plus numerous health centers, physician practices, rehabilitation locations, ExpressCARE sites and other outpatient care locations, with Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest as its flagship.
The flagship Cedar Crest campus, the Muhlenberg and 17th Street hospitals and a long list of outpatient and ExpressCARE sites each carry mechanical, life-safety, flooring and cleaning needs.
Lehigh Valley Health NetworkHealth system · Bethlehem, Northampton County
St. Luke's University Hospital - Bethlehem
St. Luke's describes its Bethlehem hospital, the main campus of St. Luke's University Health Network, as a 400-bed facility and an Adult Level I Trauma Center.
A large teaching campus with a children's hospital and ER on site, plus network hospitals and outpatient sites across the valley, runs around-the-clock HVAC, electrical and fire protection systems.
St. Luke's University Health NetworkCampus · Bethlehem, Northampton County
Lehigh University
Lehigh's facilities office says the university has four campuses consisting of 2,355 acres and 160 buildings measuring 4,547,569 gross square feet.
Academic buildings, residence halls and Greek houses spread across the Asa Packer, Mountaintop and Goodman campuses need roofing, painting, grounds and mechanical work.
Lehigh University FacilitiesMajor employer · Lower Macungie Township, Lehigh County
Mack Trucks Lehigh Valley Operations
Mack says its Lehigh Valley Operations assembly plant at 7000 Alburtis Road is a 1.7 million square-foot facility that has operated since 1975.
A heavy-truck assembly plant with cab and chassis lines and a truck modification center has large roof areas, process electrical loads, truck yards and fire protection to maintain.
Mack TrucksMajor employer · Upper Macungie Township, Lehigh County
Air Products global headquarters
Lehigh Valley Economic Development Corporation reported at the 2019 groundbreaking that the $400 million headquarters on a 50-acre tract in Upper Macungie Township would be the base of 2,000 employees.
A corporate campus with an office tower, R&D labs and a parking structure needs janitorial, HVAC, landscaping and parking-deck upkeep.
Lehigh Valley Economic Development CorporationIndustrial park · Bethlehem, Northampton County
Lehigh Valley Industrial Park (LVIP)
LVIP says its business centers are home to approximately 500 companies and an estimated 24,000 employees, with seven parks in Northampton and Lehigh Counties including LVIP VII at the Bethlehem Commerce Center.
Warehouses, distribution buildings, plants and offices across seven parks share needs for roofing, paving, electrical and fire protection.
Lehigh Valley Industrial Park, Inc.Airport · Hanover Township, Lehigh County
Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE)
The airport says 1,067,114 passengers used ABE in 2025, up 5.4% from 2024, and 301,979,109 pounds of air cargo were processed, up 21.0%.
The passenger terminal, cargo buildings and surface parking need cleaning, HVAC service and pavement upkeep.
Lehigh Valley International AirportAnchor facts checked 2026-10; each source is linked on its card.
Which trades the work touches
| Trade | Projects and owners |
|---|---|
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | 10 |
| Commercial Electrical | 8 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | 8 |
| Fire Protection | 7 |
| Commercial Roofing | 4 |
| Paving & Asphalt | 4 |
| Commercial Landscaping | 3 |
| Commercial Flooring | 3 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | 2 |
| Commercial Construction | 1 |
Chapter 04 The calendar
The Allentown selling calendar
Outbound runs every month, but the weather changes what a buyer wants to hear. These are the NOAA records for the Allentown-Bethlehem metro's counties, month by month.
| Measure | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hail and damaging wind reportstotal, 2015 to 2024 | 0 | 16 | 12 | 20 | 55 | 153 | 173 | 147 | 29 | 12 | 22 | 0 |
| Cooling degree daysaverage month | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 109 | 240 | 186 | 50 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Heating degree daysaverage month | 1,162 | 979 | 845 | 477 | 206 | 29 | 5 | 12 | 92 | 403 | 698 | 1,002 |
| Average high (°F)average month | 36 | 40 | 48 | 61 | 71 | 79 | 84 | 82 | 75 | 63 | 52 | 41 |
NOAA logged 46 hail reports of 1 inch or larger and 593 damaging wind reports across the metro's counties from 2015 to 2024: #55 of 100 markets for hail and #25 for wind. June, July and August carried 74% of the reports. Storms are not the main driver here, so roof age, leaks and budget timing carry the roofing conversation.
The metro averages 615 cooling degree days a year (#72 of 97 markets) and 5,910 heating degree days (#30 of 97). Cooling load peaks in July and August; heating in January, February, March, November and December. Peak months are when HVAC calls lead with service and response times; the rest of the year they lead with planned work and budgets.
7 months average a high of 60°F or more (April, May, June, July, August, September and October). That is when exterior painting, paving and landscaping crews are busiest, so in-season calls catch owners while they can see the work that needs doing. The contracts themselves are bid on each property's own dates, so the selling runs all year.
Trades with no weather season
Cleaning, construction, electrical, flooring and fire protection sell on contract end dates, budgets and inspection cycles. Learn each account's date on the first call and come back before it.
Chapter 05 The numbers
What one meeting takes, trade by trade
What booking a meeting has taken on our own calling floor for the trades we run in Allentown, next to the records we can prospect here. The sales center figures are national; it does not break them out by city yet.
| Trade | Dials per appointment | Reached proposal | Proposals won | Dials for 10 meetings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire ProtectionFastest to book | 78 | 21.6% | 13.2% | about 780 |
| Paving & Asphalt | 86 | 32.2% | 7.4% | about 860 |
| Commercial Landscaping | 88 | 18.8% | 12.7% | about 880 |
| Commercial Electrical | 96 | 14.6% | 21.1% | about 960 |
| Commercial HVAC & Mechanical | 98 | 16.6% | 24.9% | about 980 |
| Commercial Painting & Coatings | 115 | 31.2% | 14.4% | about 1,150 |
| Commercial Flooring | 122 | 30.8% | 9.8% | about 1,220 |
| Commercial Roofing | 140 | 25.9% | 16.1% | about 1,400 |
| Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial | 142 | 23.9% | 21.7% | about 1,420 |
| Managed Service Providers | 162 | 10.0% | 20.5% | about 1,620 |
All of these trades together: 122 dials per appointment
The records behind a Allentown program
Before a program starts we size the list: the decision-maker records Abstrakt can prospect for each trade in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton territory.
- 2,275Commercial Roofing
- 2,275Commercial Construction
- 1,053Commercial HVAC & Mechanical
- 727Commercial Cleaning & Janitorial
Source: Abstrakt territory record counts, as of October 2026: estimated decision-maker records Abstrakt can prospect for each program in the territory. Shown for the programs the count covers.
Read it this way
Divide the records by the dials one meeting takes and you see how long a list lasts before it repeats. A thin list means a program has to work every record well, not just call more.
Chapter 06 Build or buy
What an in-house SDR costs in Allentown
Before you hire a sales development rep in Allentown, price the whole job, not just the salary.
The salary is the smallest part of the decision. About 3,430 people hold the role in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metro, and every one of their employers is competing for the same hires.
| Cost | Year one |
|---|---|
| Base salary | $55,000 |
| Commission and bonus | $15,000 |
| Payroll taxes and benefits (25% of pay) | $17,500 |
| Tools and data ($550 a month) | $6,600 |
| Recruiting and training | $7,000 |
| Turnover (35% a year, rehiring) | $2,450 |
| Manager and QA time (5 hours a week) and admin (4 hours a month) | $21,150 |
| Total, before ramp time | $124,700 |
Headcount: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025. Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services and travel (SOC 41-3091). The cost lines are the starting values of our SDR cost calculator: $15,000 commission, 25% payroll taxes and benefits, $550 a month in tools, $7,000 recruiting and training, 35% yearly turnover, and manager, QA and admin time. Change any of them there.
$124,700
for one in-house SDR's first year at a $55,000 base salary.
That buys one rep. It does not buy the list, the manager's coaching system or cover when the rep leaves.
Part two Apply this
The Allentown market toolkit
4 working tools built from the chapters above. Tick the boxes as you go (they stay ticked in this browser), copy the scripts into your CRM, or save the whole guide as a PDF and print this part as a worksheet.
Tool 01
Account scorecard
Before an account goes on the call list, check every line that fits. Call the accounts with the most ticks first, and leave the ones with none for later.
Tool 02
Discovery question bank
Ask fewer, better questions. Pick three or four for the call and save the rest for the meeting. Each one comes with the reason it earns its place.
Restaurants: 437 sites here
From our fire protection talk track. Staying open and passing inspection. Multi-unit operators are worth more than single locations.
- When was your hood suppression system last inspected, and when is the next one due?Due dates tell you when to call and what to offer.
- Have you had a failed inspection or a citation recently?Failed inspections threaten the ability to stay open and create urgency.
- How many locations do you operate, and does each one use a different vendor?Multi-unit operators are more valuable and often want one vendor across locations.
Retail stores: 433 sites here
From our electrical talk track. Lighting cost and fast repair. For chains, decisions often sit in a regional facilities office, so find who owns vendors for your area.
- Who handles electrical service for this store, the store, a regional facilities office or a national provider?For chains, decisions often sit outside the store, so this tells you who to call next.
- Is a lighting retrofit or remodel planned for this location?Remodels and retrofits are defined projects with budgets.
- How fast does your current electrician respond when lights or signs go out?Slow response during business hours is a common reason to add a vendor.
Manufacturing plants: 323 sites here
From our electrical talk track. Uptime and planned shutdowns. Ask what an electrical failure costs the line and when the next shutdown window is.
- When was the last unplanned electrical outage, and what did it cost the line?A recent outage gives you the cost of failure in the plant's own words, which justifies preventative work.
- When is your next planned shutdown, and what electrical work is already on that list?Shutdown windows are when real work happens, so this tells you when a proposal must be approved.
- Has anyone done infrared scanning or switchgear maintenance on your gear recently?Missing maintenance on critical gear is a concrete, defined first project.
Any first meeting
Plain practice that works in every market.
- How are you handling this today, and what would you change about it?The gap between today and what they want is the whole reason to meet.
- What happens if nothing changes this year?Tells you whether there is a cost to waiting, or only curiosity.
- Who else would need to agree before anything moves?Names the people who can stall the deal, while you can still invite them.
- When does the current contract or budget come up for review?Gives you the date to plan around, even when the answer today is no.
- What would make a first meeting worth your time?Lets the buyer set the agenda, which is the agenda they will show up for.
Tool 03
Trigger watchlist
Each of these changes gives a buyer a reason to take the call this month instead of next year. Tick the ones you will track, and set a news alert or CRM field for each so you hear about it first.
Tool 04
30-day action plan
4 weeks, 15 steps, nothing you need to buy. Tick each one off as you finish it; your progress stays in this browser.
Week 1Draw the territory
Week 2Check the rules, then write the talk track
Week 3Make the calls
Week 4Measure and decide
Sources and notes
- U.S. Census Bureau, County Business Patterns 2023: business sites by category, size and county, Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, private ownership, 2026 Q1: contractor establishments, one-year change and concentration (location quotient).
- Projects: named public sources linked on each card, current as of 2026-09.
- Anchor owners: sources linked on each card, checked 2026-10.
- NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, 2015 to 2024: hail and damaging wind reports by month across the metro's counties.
- NOAA NCEI nClimDiv county monthly series, 1991-2020 averages: degree days and average highs by month.
- Abstrakt sales center, Performance Intelligence, national, as of October 2026: dials, appointments, proposals and wins by trade. Method.
- Abstrakt territory record counts, as of October 2026: decision-maker records per program in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton territory.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025: Sales representatives of services, except advertising, insurance, financial services and travel (SOC 41-3091).
- The toolkit's discovery questions come from our trade talk tracks; the plan and checklists are sales practice, not data.
