BETHLEHEM, PA: $38.2M on 47,828 FEC receipts

Bethlehem between thin and thick books

Forty-seven thousand eight hundred twenty-eight lines produce $38,223,040. Divide the pair and the mean itemized line is about $799. Murrysville, Pennsylvania, on a nearby dollar total, carries 10,835 lines. Bethlehem is the thicker of those two Pennsylvania files. Allentown and Easton are other Lehigh Valley city strings. They are not inside $38,223,040 unless the filer typed BETHLEHEM.

Northampton County and Lehigh County are orientation, not an FEC roll-up. $38,223,040 is the BETHLEHEM match only.

Not a Valley-wide recode

Adding Allentown or Easton to Bethlehem would mix keys. This packet publishes BETHLEHEM, PA only: $38,223,040 and 47,828 lines.

Office addresses can share the city field with household streets. A PAC or joint-fundraising address counts when that is what the filer typed. The 47,828 lines are receipts, not unique persons. Recheck both facts on the live hub after a later extract.

City field versus ZIP pages

Filers type a city. FEC.gov stores that string. ZIP pages cut the same federal series by postal code. Summing Bethlehem-area ZIPs will not reproduce $38,223,040 when some receipts used Allentown or Hellertown as the city.

The 47,828-line count follows the city field, not the postal map and not an employer field.

What sits outside the pair

Pennsylvania state campaigns file under state law. Those receipts are outside $38,223,040 and outside 47,828. Unitemized federal gifts are omitted. Independent expenditures that never appear as contribution itemizations are outside both facts.

Nothing here estimates how Bethlehem voted. Occupation and recipient live on other FEC fields. Use the city table, then ZIP pages, then the cities index.

Citing BETHLEHEM, PA

Name FEC.gov, name contributor city, and print $38,223,040 with 47,828 together. Dropping the line count hides a mean near $799.

If the live hub disagrees with this snapshot, trust the hub. Open original reports on FEC.gov when a named Bethlehem receipt matters. Keep PA on the key.

How to use the Bethlehem hub

Start on the live Bethlehem city page. $38,223,040 is the city-string dollar total in this snapshot. 47,828 is the matching line count. Those two numbers move together when FEC.gov amends a receipt. They do not move because a researcher prefers Allentown, Easton, or Hellertown as the “real” Lehigh Valley address. Filers typed BETHLEHEM. LobbyVault indexed BETHLEHEM. Northampton County and Lehigh County are useful for maps. They are not FEC dimensions on this hub. A mean near $799 is only $38,223,040 divided by 47,828. It is not a typical Bethlehem household gift. Occupation, recipient, and party live on other FEC fields. None of those fields are in this packet. Do not infer turnout. Murrysville, on a nearby dollar total, carries 10,835 lines. Bethlehem is the thicker of those two Pennsylvania files. That contrast is a shape fact, not a ranking.

Cite the pair in one sentence: contributor city BETHLEHEM, PA, $38,223,040, 47,828 itemized federal contributions, source FEC.gov via LobbyVault. If a later extract on the live hub prints a different pair, discard this snapshot. Original filings remain on FEC.gov for any named Bethlehem receipt that needs a line-by-line check. Pennsylvania non-federal filings never enter either fact. Unitemized federal gifts never enter either fact. Independent expenditures that are not contribution itemizations never enter either fact. 47,828 is not a unique-donor census. $38,223,040 is still the dollar sum of those lines. Quote both. The live Bethlehem hub is the table. This guide is the footnote. ZIP pages split a different field. Keep PA on the key. Do not fold Allentown or Easton into $38,223,040.

Bethlehem’s pair on this extract is $38,223,040 and 47,828 lines, mean near $799. Print both. Murrysville, on a nearby dollar total, carries 10,835 lines. Allentown and Easton remain other Lehigh Valley strings. Northampton County and Lehigh County are orientation. Pennsylvania state campaigns and unitemized federal gifts sit outside both facts. Repeat givers can inflate 47,828 without adding unique persons. The live Bethlehem FEC page is the authority if this snapshot and the hub diverge. Open FEC.gov for a named receipt. Quote contributor city BETHLEHEM, PA with both packet numbers. Do not fold a Valley slogan into $38,223,040.

Questions

What is Bethlehem’s federal contribution total on LobbyVault?

Itemized FEC.gov receipts listing contributor city BETHLEHEM, PA total $38,223,040 across 47,828 contributions. That pair is a city-string roll-up of federal Schedule A rows, not a unique-donor count and not a census of Bethlehem residents. Unitemized gifts sit outside both figures.

How should I read Bethlehem’s 47,828 contributions?

LobbyVault counts 47,828 itemized lines for BETHLEHEM, PA. That is a line count, not a headcount of unique people. Repeat gifts and memo entries can add rows without adding donors. This packet publishes no unique-donor figure. The matching dollar total is $38,223,040.

Does Bethlehem’s total include Allentown or Easton?

Only if the filer typed BETHLEHEM. Allentown and Easton are separate city strings when they appear that way on the receipt. $38,223,040 is the BETHLEHEM, PA match. The 47,828 lines follow the same rule. Valley and county labels are not an FEC dimension on this hub.

Where do the Bethlehem facts come from?

Both facts come from FEC.gov itemized contribution aggregates indexed on LobbyVault: $38,223,040 and 47,828 lines. Original reports remain on FEC.gov. Pennsylvania non-federal filings are outside the pair. If a later extract disagrees, the Commission’s filing controls.