The Poconos sit in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and much of the region lies inside the greater New York combined statistical area. Millions of metro residents live within a two hour drive, and the region draws especially from New York City and Philadelphia. Monroe County, home to Camelback, the largest ski resort in the Poconos, and to Shawnee Mountain near East Stroudsburg, had 168,327 residents in 2020. It was one of the fastest growing counties in Pennsylvania in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, driven by Pocono tourism and by New York area residents seeking a lower cost of living within commuting range of the city. Its median home value was $210,972 at the end of 2021. Snowmaking built the local ski business. A Big Boulder employee invented a snowmaking machine in the winter of 1956 to 1957, and by 1987 skiing was a $230 million a year industry and one quarter of the region's tourist business. Blue Mountain sits in Palmerton in the Lehigh Valley, and Montage Mountain and Elk Mountain sit near Scranton.