Hard red winter wheat (HRWW) (Triticum aestivum) is produced primarily in the plains region of the US and is used for bread flour. Substantial quantities of HRWW from this region are transported to the Northeast US for milling and export purposes. Historically, it has been challenging for Northeast wheat growers to produce high quality and high yielding HRWW due to unfavorable environmental conditions and the lack of adapted HRWW cultivars. Demand for HRWW has stimulated breeding efforts on a regional scale and has led to limited contract opportunities for Pennsylvania produced HRWW. Although yield and grain quality characteristics of HRWW continue to improve with novel cultivars, HRWW yields remain lower than soft red winter wheat (SRWW) yields and some premium is necessary to justify production in Pennsylvania. The objective of this study was to evaluate the agronomic and grain quality characteristics of existing and commercial experimental HRWW cultivars compared to leading SRWW cultivars grown in the region. Across two Pennsylvania locations in 2004, HRWW cultivar yields ranged from 3040 to 5058 kg/ha while SRWW yields ranged from 3543 to 6179 kg/ha. Averaged over both locations, the highest yielding HRWW cultivars yielded 17% lower than the leading SRWW cultivars. High yielding HRWW cultivars were slightly more susceptible to powdery mildew (Erysiphe graminis) than leading SRWW cultivars. Test weight, height, lodging, maturity, and winter survival was similar between leading HRWW and SRWW cultivars. Grain protein varied considerably (102 to 125 g/kg) among HRWW cultivars, and across sites was inversely related to grain yield. Single kernel hardness, solvent retention capacity and rapid viscosity analysis revealed similarities between some HRWW and SRWW cultivars, implying that various SRWW and HRWW cultivars may have similar compositional traits and end-use characteristics.