Where Trumbull County Fits in Northeast Ohio & Northwest Pennsylvania

Trumbull County covers roughly 616 square miles in the northeastern corner of Ohio, bordered by Ashtabula County to the north, Mahoning County to the south, Portage County to the west, and Mercer County, Pennsylvania to the east – putting the county at the doorstep of Northwest Pennsylvania as much as it is part of Northeast Ohio. Warren, the county seat, sits about 50 miles southeast of Cleveland and 15 miles northwest of Youngstown, placing the entire county within roughly an hour of Cleveland, Akron/Canton, Youngstown, and Pittsburgh, and about two hours from Erie, PA. Trumbull County is part of the Youngstown-Warren-Boardman metro area, commonly known as the Mahoning Valley — and that neighboring relationship matters more than ever. Downtown Youngstown, just 15 miles from Warren, is now home to the Youngstown Innovation Hub for Aerospace & Defense, a nationally significant additive-manufacturing initiative. Trumbull County businesses and workforce sit minutes from that hub’s supply chain, talent pipeline, and partner network.

• Highway access: I-80 (the Ohio Turnpike) runs across the county, with I-76 providing a direct connection south to Akron and east to Pittsburgh via the Pennsylvania Turnpike. State Route 11 links the county north-south to Youngstown and Ashtabula, while US-422 and State Route 5 run east-west through Warren toward Cleveland and the Pennsylvania state line.
• Air access – and why “an hour away” is actually a convenience, not a compromise: Trumbull County sits within about an hour of three major hub airports – Cleveland Hopkins International, Akron-Canton Airport, and Pittsburgh International – giving residents and businesses a choice of carriers, fares, and direct-flight options most single-airport regions can’t match. Here’s the part most people overlook: in many large metro areas, residents already spend 45 minutes to an hour just getting from their own neighborhood to their local airport, sitting in city traffic the whole way. In Trumbull County, that same hour of drive time gets you a choice of three major airports – usually on open highway, not gridlock – plus a fourth option close to home: Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, located right in the county in Vienna Township, for smaller, faster, more convenient regional flying.
• Rail: The county’s industrial corridor is served by Class I freight rail, a legacy of its steel and manufacturing history that continues to support logistics and manufacturing operations today.

Trumbull County’s location within the Cleveland–Pittsburgh manufacturing corridor gives businesses direct access to interstate highways, major markets and three metro airports. It delivers the regional connectivity companies need without the higher costs, traffic and commute times of a larger metropolitan area. Explore the towns and townships that make up Trumbull County and discover what each community has to offer.

Explore Our Towns & Townships

Visit First – Get a Feel for Northeast Ohio

The best way to evaluate any place – whether you’re relocating, job hunting, or scouting a site – is actually to spend time there. A first visit to Trumbull County usually turns into something more: a favorite dinner spot on the Italian Food Trail, an afternoon on Mosquito Lake, a ride on the Western Reserve Greenway, or a conversation with a shop owner in one of the county’s historic downtowns.

Live in Trumbull County – Affordable, Connected, Northeast Ohio

Trumbull County is home to roughly 198,000 residents across small cities, villages, lake communities, historic neighborhoods, and quiet township roads. For people comparing affordable places to live in Northeast Ohio, Northwest Pennsylvania, or the broader Midwest, that variety matters: you can live near the lake, close to downtown Warren or Niles, along a rural road, or in a neighborhood where generations of families have put down roots – all without giving up access to Cleveland, Akron, Canton, Pittsburgh, Youngstown, and Erie.

Residents have access to local schools and higher education – including Kent State University at Trumbull in Warren, offering associate and bachelor’s degree programs in nursing, business, technology, justice studies, and more, plus workforce and continuing-education partnerships that feed directly into the county’s growing manufacturing and energy sectors – along with regional healthcare systems (including Trumbull Regional Medical Center and Mercy Health facilities), parks, libraries, arts and entertainment, and year-round community events. It’s the everyday infrastructure of a full-size region at a small-town cost of living.

Work in Trumbull County – Careers Across Northeast Ohio’s Industries

Trumbull County has long been part of Ohio’s industrial story, and that story is actively being rewritten. The county’s economy employs roughly 86,000 workers, led by manufacturing, healthcare and social assistance, and retail trade – with manufacturing alone accounting for the largest share of jobs in the region.

Three developments are reshaping what “career” means here right now:

• Kimberly-Clark’s $800 million manufacturing plant in Warren – one of the largest employers to come to the Mahoning Valley in decades – is expected to create hundreds of new manufacturing jobs, with a proposed distribution center nearby adding more.
• Ultium Cells, the GM/LG Energy Solution joint-venture EV battery plant in Lordstown, has turned the county into a growing hub for electric vehicle manufacturing, with workforce partnerships (including Kent State and Youngstown State University) training the next generation of EV technicians.
• BRITE Energy Innovators, Ohio’s only energy-technology incubator, headquartered in downtown Warren, is building an entirely new layer of energy-sector jobs and startups focused on battery, grid, and clean-energy technologies.

Alongside these, an established manufacturing base – including steel and tube producers like Vallourec – continues to anchor industrial employment, supported by healthcare systems, food and hospitality (AVI Foodsystems is headquartered here), logistics, and small business. For workers, that means real pathways from entry-level roles into skilled trades, technical careers, healthcare, and leadership – plus a labor market where hospitality, customer service, and problem-solving experience transfers directly into in-demand manufacturing and energy careers.

Do Business in Trumbull County – Economic Development & Site Selection in Northeast Ohio

If you’re a site selector, developer, entrepreneur, or business leader evaluating Ohio, Northeast Ohio, Northwest Pennsylvania, or the broader Midwest, Trumbull County offers more than available land – it offers a documented industrial base, interstate and rail access, a fast-growing EV and energy supply chain, and a set of local incentive tools built to support projects like these.

Minutes from the Youngstown Innovation Hub for Aerospace & Defense
Just 15 miles from Warren, downtown Youngstown is now home to the Youngstown Innovation Hub for Aerospace & Defense, managed by the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM). Backed by $26 million from the Ohio Innovation Hubs Program plus roughly $36 million in local, federal, and private investment, the Hub is being built out in the former Vindicator Printing building – 130,000+ square feet of manufacturing-ready space – and is projected to generate $161.6 million in economic impact and 450 new jobs by 2029, alongside 185 new STEM credential opportunities and 40 internships. Partners include Youngstown State University, America Makes, the Youngstown Business Incubator, JobsOhio, TEAM NEO, the Ohio Aerospace Institute, and companies like JuggerBot 3D (industrial 3D printing) and Ursa Major (rocket propulsion).

The State of Ohio is positioning the Mahoning Valley – Trumbull County included – as a national center for additive manufacturing, aerospace, and defense supply-chain work. Trumbull County’s existing steel and tube manufacturing base, EV battery expertise (Ultium Cells), energy infrastructure (Trumbull Energy Center), and workforce partnerships with Youngstown State University and Kent State University at Trumbull make it a natural, site-ready extension of that supply chain – with lower land and operating costs than downtown Youngstown itself, but all the same regional advantages.

The proof: Kimberly-Clark’s $800 million bet on Warren
In 2025, Kimberly-Clark committed to building a 1-million-plus-square-foot, $800 million manufacturing facility in Warren, on the former Republic Steel/BDM Steel site – one of the largest manufacturing investments in the Mahoning Valley’s history, with the company citing the site’s ability to serve consumers across the Midwest and Northeast with speed and resilience. The project was made possible through a Warren-Howland-Warren Joint Economic Development District, local tax incentives, and $17.2 million in site-readiness funding through Ohio’s All Ohio Future Fund. The investment helped Ohio earn a 2026 Silver Shovel Award from Area Development magazine – national recognition for high-impact economic development. Kimberly-Clark has since proposed an additional $160 million distribution center on the adjacent site.

Trumbull County has already been tested by a Fortune 500 site-selection process – for logistics access, workforce, utilities, and incentive readiness – and it passed.

Why site selectors are looking at Trumbull County

• Location: Inside the Cleveland-Pittsburgh manufacturing corridor, minutes from Youngstown, with direct I-80/I-76 access and proximity to Cleveland, Akron/Canton, Pittsburgh, and Northwest Pennsylvania – all within roughly an hour’s drive.
• Industry base: Consumer products manufacturing (Kimberly-Clark), EV/battery production (Ultium Cells), energy generation and innovation (Trumbull Energy Center, BRITE Energy Innovators), steel and tube production (Vallourec), healthcare systems, logistics, and food production/distribution.
• Defense & advanced manufacturing momentum: Direct proximity to the Youngstown Innovation Hub for Aerospace & Defense – a $60+ million additive-manufacturing initiative projected to bring $161.6 million in economic impact and 450 jobs to the region by 2029 – positions Trumbull County to supply and support the region’s growing defense and aerospace manufacturing base.
• Energy infrastructure: The Trumbull Energy Center, a $1.2 billion, 950-megawatt natural gas power plant in Lordstown capable of powering up to 900,000 homes, gives the county substantial, reliable power capacity for energy-intensive operations – a growing priority for manufacturers and data-driven industries alike.
• Innovation ecosystem: BRITE Energy Innovators, headquartered in downtown Warren, is Ohio’s only energy-technology incubator, having supported more than 600 companies, helped create roughly 2,100 jobs, and channeled more than $250 million in investment into the region’s advanced energy economy.
• Workforce & education: Part of the East Ohio workforce development region, where manufacturing accounts for over 14% of regional jobs, supported locally by Kent State University at Trumbull and regional workforce training partnerships.
• Infrastructure: Three major hub airports within about an hour (Cleveland, Akron-Canton, Pittsburgh), plus the local Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport, Class I rail access, and an established industrial corridor built on a century of manufacturing infrastructure.

Trumbull County’s Economic Development office works with businesses on:

• Joint Economic Development Districts (JEDDs) – shared township/municipal development agreements for commercial and industrial projects, as used for the Kimberly-Clark project.
• Community Reinvestment Area (CRA) tax exemptions – for renovating existing or constructing new buildings.
• Tax Increment Financing (TIF) – to fund public infrastructure tied to development projects.
• Ohio Enterprise Zone Program – temporary property tax exemptions (up to 60% for up to 10 years) tied to job-creating investment.
• Revolving Loan Fund (RLF) – gap financing alongside bank or private capital, tied to job creation.
• State-level support, including Ohio’s All Ohio Future Fund for site-readiness investment, as used to prepare the Kimberly-Clark site.

Trumbull County’s Economic Development team can walk you through available sites, workforce data, and incentive eligibility for your project.

A Place to Belong – Built by Our Small Businesses

Big investments like Kimberly-Clark and Ultium Cells make headlines, but Trumbull County’s everyday character is built by the small businesses that call it home – the family-owned restaurants, downtown shops, local manufacturers, startups at BRITE, and multi-generation companies that have stayed and grown here. We’re proud of them, and proud that a county this connected to major metro markets still feels like a place where a small business owner is your neighbor, not a stranger.

Thriving is about more than where you live or work – it’s about feeling connected to the place around you. In Trumbull County, that shows up in local restaurants, volunteer-run museums, family businesses, arts organizations, neighborhood festivals, lake days, and communities actively investing in downtowns, trails, riverfronts, and workforce connections.

Frequently Asked Questions – Living, Working & Investing in Northeast Ohio

Your Next Step Starts with a Conversation

Whether it’s a weekend visit, a career search, or a site visit, Trumbull County is ready when you are.