Used plastic pallets in Harrisburg
Harrisburg-Carlisle counted 17,241 private warehousing and storage jobs in 2025, 0.91% of the US total, and that is where used plastic pallet buyers in Harrisburg cluster. The ZIPs, counties and corridors below show where.
- Warehousing jobs
- 17,241 (2025)
- Share of US
- 0.91%
- Counties
- 3
- Top ZIP
- 17050 Mechanicsburg
Harrisburg by county
Count the jobs the BLS can disclose in Harrisburg-Carlisle and you reach 17,241 in warehousing and storage for 2025, 6.1% of the metro's private work. The area covers 3 counties: Cumberland, Dauphin, Perry.
| County | Warehousing jobs, 2025 | Share of the metro | Share of Pennsylvania |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cumberland County | 12,506 | 73% | 10% |
| Dauphin County | 4,735 | 27% | 3.8% |
Harrisburg against Pennsylvania
The metro's disclosed-county total set beside the state's whole count, so the two can be read together.
| Line | Harrisburg | Pennsylvania | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Warehousing jobs, 2025 | 17,241 | 123,481 | 14% |
| Share of the US total | 0.91% | 6.49% | |
| Counties in the metro | 3 | ||
| Warehousing in local private jobs | 6.1% | ||
| Most concentrated line: warehousing and storage | 4.3x | warehousing and storage 1.6x |
ZIPs with the most warehouses
Census ZIP Code Business Patterns for 2023 list 5 ZIPs here with the most warehousing establishments, 73 between them. 17050 (Mechanicsburg) leads with 20, 27% of the listed total.
- 17050 Mechanicsburg: 20 warehousing establishments, 1.2 times 17013.
- 17013 Carlisle: 17 warehousing establishments, 85% of the count in 17050.
- 17055 Mechanicsburg: 13 warehousing establishments, 65% of the count in 17050.
- 17015 Carlisle: 13 warehousing establishments, 65% of the count in 17050.
- 17011 Camp Hill: 10 warehousing establishments, 50% of the count in 17050.
| ZIP | Town | Warehousing establishments | Share of the listed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17050 | Mechanicsburg | 20 | 27% |
| 17013 | Carlisle | 17 | 23% |
| 17055 | Mechanicsburg | 13 | 18% |
| 17015 | Carlisle | 13 | 18% |
| 17011 | Camp Hill | 10 | 14% |
What the ratios say
The BLS leaves out counties where one employer would show through, so the 17,241 jobs counted for Harrisburg may understate the metro.
- Harrisburg ranks 24th of the 60 metros in the data by disclosed warehousing jobs, with 17,241 against a median of 13,652.
- Spread across 3 counties, that is 5,747 warehousing jobs per county on average.
- Cumberland County holds 73% of the metro's jobs and Dauphin County 27%; the gap between them is 7,771 jobs.
- 17050 has 20 warehousing establishments, 2.0 times as many as 17011 (10) at the other end of the list.
- Pennsylvania has 123,481 warehousing jobs in all, so the disclosed counties of Harrisburg are 14% of the state.
- Warehousing is 6.1% of private jobs in these counties; where it is higher than average, pallets are a daily cost and sellers of surplus are common.
- One Interstate in the data serves the metro, and it carries 39,746 warehousing jobs along the route.
- The metros closest in size are Charlotte (18,437, 1,196 above) and St. Louis (16,879, 362 below).
- The top three ZIPs, 17050, 17013, 17055, hold 50 of the 73 establishments in the ZIP list, or 68%.
- The ZIP list spans 3 towns, led by Mechanicsburg (33) and Carlisle (30).
- The ZIP list averages 14.6 warehousing establishments per ZIP across 5 ZIPs, and the quietest, 17011 Camp Hill, has 10.
- Of the 3 counties in the metro, the BLS discloses 2 for warehousing, which together account for 17,241 of the 17,241 jobs counted.
- Harrisburg has 1.3 times the disclosed warehousing jobs of the median metro.
- For every warehousing job in these counties there are about 15 other private jobs, so pallet-using work is spread thinly across 3 counties.
Where Harrisburg ranks
Harrisburg and the 23 metros above it hold 77% of the 1,116,650 warehousing jobs across the 60 metros in the data. The largest, Inland Empire, counts 118,368.
| Measure | Harrisburg | Rank of 60 |
|---|---|---|
| Warehousing jobs | 17,241 | 24th |
| Jobs per county | 5,747 | 12th |
| Warehousing share of local jobs | 6.1% | 4th |
| Strongest line, location quotient | 4.3x | 14th |
| Busiest ZIP, establishments | 20 | 33rd |
Corridors through Harrisburg
Interstate 81 is the Interstate in our data that serves Harrisburg.
| Corridor | Metros on it in our data | Warehousing jobs on it | Share of US | Largest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interstate 81 | Harrisburg-Carlisle, Hagerstown-Martinsburg, Scranton-Wilkes-Barre, Knoxville | 39,746 | 2.1% | Scranton (18,912) and Harrisburg (17,241) |
Neighbouring metros in the data
Metros that share a corridor with Harrisburg, and the other metros in Pennsylvania, with their disclosed warehousing jobs.
| Metro | State | Warehousing jobs | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hagerstown | Maryland | 1,842 | Shares Interstate 81 |
| Scranton-Wilkes-Barre | Pennsylvania | 18,912 | Shares Interstate 81 |
| Knoxville | Tennessee | 1,751 | Shares Interstate 81 |
| Lehigh Valley | Pennsylvania | 19,122 | Also in Pennsylvania |
| Philadelphia | Pennsylvania | 38,250 | Also in Pennsylvania |
| Pittsburgh | Pennsylvania | 9,826 | Also in Pennsylvania |
| Lancaster | Pennsylvania | 6,994 | Also in Pennsylvania |
The ladder around Harrisburg
Metros ranked by disclosed warehousing jobs: Harrisburg with the two above it and the two below.
| Rank | Metro | State | Warehousing jobs | Share of US |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 22nd | Scranton-Wilkes-Barre | Pennsylvania | 18,912 | 0.99% |
| 23rd | Charlotte | North Carolina | 18,437 | 0.97% |
| 24th | Harrisburg | Pennsylvania | 17,241 | 0.91% |
| 25th | St. Louis | Missouri | 16,879 | 0.89% |
| 26th | San Antonio | Texas | 16,751 | 0.88% |
Harrisburg's pallet-using trades
Against the national share of employment, warehousing and storage is the most concentrated pallet-using line in Harrisburg-Carlisle, at 4.3x. Warehouses with automated storage need a consistent size for conveyors and a rack rating they can read.
- Warehousing and storage: 17,241 jobs in the disclosed counties, 0.9% of the 1,901,976 across the US, or 1.00 for every warehousing job here.
- Dairy product manufacturing: 1,302 jobs in the disclosed counties, 0.8% of the 168,222 across the US, or 0.08 for every warehousing job here.
- Food manufacturing: 5,802 jobs in the disclosed counties, 0.3% of the 1,775,008 across the US, or 0.34 for every warehousing job here.
- Grocery and related product wholesale: 2,331 jobs in the disclosed counties, 0.3% of the 829,364 across the US, or 0.14 for every warehousing job here.
Paperwork to keep
- The written lot description and the date it was sent.
- Your own count, signed and dated by whoever received the load.
- Photographs of stacks, plates and any marks, stored with the order number.
- The maker's papers for resin, colour or rating, where the job needs them.
- A line naming who agreed to which exceptions, so a later dispute has a record.
Safe handling at the stack
- Lift with the tines fully under the load and tilt back slightly before travelling.
- Never climb a stack, and never stand beside one while it is being moved.
- Take a damaged pallet out of service at once and tag it, so nobody reloads it.
- Keep stack heights even and edges square, since a leaning stack feeds on itself.
- Match tine length to the pallet, because short tines can crack the underside of a deck.
Requesting a lot for Harrisburg
- Footprint: 48 x 40 in, one maker
- Grade: used and clean with a stated rating
- Dock ZIP, for example 17050 or 17013
- Quantity band
How a request works
- Pick the footprint, then the grade you can live with.
- Say what the pallets will carry and how many you need.
- Read the written lot description that comes back.
- Agree the lot before anything moves.
Questions people ask
Where do Harrisburg buyers receive used pallets?
By the Census count, the busiest warehousing ZIPs are 17050 (20), 17013 (17), 17055 (13). Name yours on the request.
How big is warehousing in Harrisburg?
17,241 private jobs in the disclosed counties in 2025, 0.91% of the US total and 14% of Pennsylvania's.
Which highways serve Harrisburg?
Interstate 81: 39,746 warehousing jobs along it in our data.
Ask for a lot
Pick a footprint and a grade. The reply describes a matched lot in writing.