[6] It is a core city within South Central Pennsylvania, with 552,984 residents in the Lancaster metropolitan area.

The city's primary industries include healthcare, tourism, public administration, manufacturing, and both professional and semi-professional services.

[8] In the summer of 1744 the Lancaster courthouse was the venue for an important colonial treaty between the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Provinces of Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia.

Conrad Weiser served as interpreter, and the text of the treaty was soon after published by Benjamin Franklin.

[9] During the American Revolution, Lancaster served for one day as the temporary capital of the United States, seated at the Court House (built 1739, destroyed by fire in 1784 and rebuilt before relocating to current Lancaster County Courthouse in 1852; original site is now the Soldiers & Sailors Monument at Penn Square c. 1874),[10] on September 27, 1777, after the Continental Congress fled Philadelphia, which had been captured by the British.

[11] U.S. census reports show that, from 1800 to 1900, Lancaster ranked among the nation's top 100 most populous urban areas.

Wheatland, the estate of James Buchanan, the fifteenth President of the United States, is one of Lancaster's most popular attractions.

Thaddeus Stevens, considered among the most powerful members of the United States House of Representatives, lived in Lancaster as an attorney.

Two of the most common products needed by pioneers to settle the Frontier were manufactured in Lancaster: the Conestoga wagon and the Pennsylvania long rifle.

In 1803, Meriwether Lewis visited Lancaster to be educated in survey methods by the well-known surveyor Andrew Ellicott.

[15] In 2009, a community organization installed and began monitoring 164 closed-circuit cameras in Lancaster, which engendered some local opposition.

[21] Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai visited Lancaster in 2017 to honor its commitment to refugees, an experience she detailed in her book We Are Displaced.

[22] Lancaster City Council voted to end cooperation with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in 2024.

Poverty in Lancaster is twice the state's average, and public school records list more than 900 children as homeless.

[37] Since 2005, Lancaster's downtown has increased the number of specialty shops, boutiques, bars, clubs, and galleries.

originally opened in 1942 as a U.S. Navy electronics research, development and manufacturing plant operated by RCA.

[41] Central Market is listed with the National Register of Historic Places, and its towers are of the Romanesque Revival style.

[42] Lancaster also has two outlet shopping centers, both of which are located in East Lampeter Township on U.S. Route 30.

The galleries host a "First Friday" each month, extending their business hours to exhibit new artwork and new artists to the public.

[48] Stevens and Smith Historic Site is located within the Vine Street lobby of the Lancaster County Convention Center.

He also played for the Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, and the San Francisco Giants.

Herr subsequently coached the Hempfield High School Black Knights baseball team for several years.

On November 7, 2017, former Councilwoman Danene Sorace was elected Lancaster's 43rd mayor, the second woman to serve in the role.

[59][60] The City Council is composed of seven members: President Amanda Bakay, Vice President Jaime Arroyo, and councilors Ahmed Ahmed, Lochard Calixte, Faith Craig, Janet Diaz, and John Hursh.

[65] Federally, Lancaster is part of Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district, represented by Republican Lloyd Smucker of nearby West Lampeter Township.

Founded in 1865, the Bureau of Police is located at 39 W. Chestnut Street in downtown Lancaster, and consists of approximately 147 sworn officers and 46 civilian employees.

Queen Street Station in downtown Lancaster serves as a transit hub for several RRTA bus routes.

[71] Bieber Transportation Group (formerly Capitol Trailways) formerly provided intercity bus transit from the Lancaster Train and Bus Station to Reading, Norristown, Philadelphia, and New York City to the east, and York to the west; service was discontinued on April 1, 2018.

[74] Amtrak also serves the Lancaster Train and Bus Station, located on the northernmost edge of the city at 53 East McGovern Avenue.

[75] The city is served by the Lancaster Airport, located six miles (9.7 km) north of downtown and just south of Lititz, with commercial air service by Southern Airways Express to Washington DC via Dulles, Pittsburgh, and Nantucket on Saturdays.