Earth are non-distinct, 

But on December 13, 1973, it was snowing and I took a short-cut through the cornfield back from junior high.  It was dark out because the days were shorter in winter, and I remember how the broken cornstalks made my walk more difficult.  The snow was falling lightly, like a flurry of small hands...".

We learn that the Susie is in New York from her description of taking a day-trip in which she goes with her class to the Museum of Natural History. 

Later, in Chapter 4, the news item announcing her murder, we get the name of the county: 

MISSING, FOUL PLAY SUSPECTED; ELBOW FOUND BY NEIGHBORING DOG; GIRL, 14, BELIEVED KILLED IN STOLFUZ COUNTY CORNFIELD.

Sebold probably purposely made her setting on Earth rather vague because Susie's story could be anyone's story.  It helps the reader identify with her life and after-life. 

The setting shifts in both time period and place in this novel. The novel begins with an exact date-December 6, 1973, but the plot shifts back and forth from past, present, and future.

The place also shifts back and forth. It takes place on both heaven and Earth. Most of the action takes place on Earth, but some does occur in heaven.

Alice Sebold's critically acclaimed 2002 novel The Lovely Bones, about a young girl named Susie who is murdered, was adapted by Peter Jackson into the 2009 film of the same name.

The setting of the novel is Norristown, in Pennsylvania; it is shown to be near Philadelphia. Norristown is a typical small town in the 1970s-80s. The people there are friendly and everyone knows everyone else. In the novel, it is unthinkable to the locals that one of their own is a pedophile and murderer; everyone is convinced that it "can't happen here." Local residents are suspected, but the actual murderer escapes legal justice because he knows how to appear innocent. The small town is contrasted with the larger city of Pennsylvania; Norristown contains hay and corn fields, and people are on a first-name basis, while Susie's mother instantly suspects strange people in Philadelphia while she lives there. The murder breaks apart the local trust that people have with each other, making their interactions hostile and more like those in a larger city. The alteration of Norristown from friendly to suspicious is contrasted with the alteration of Susie's family from normal to broken after her murder; it affects both her family and everyone around them, spreading in what she calls:

...the lovely bones that had grown around my absence: the connections -- sometimes tenuous, sometimes made at great cost, but often magnificent -- that happened after I was gone.
(Sebold, The Lovely Bones, Google Books)

Alice Sebold's poignant novel is largely set in what would appear to be a semi-rural area near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This is evidenced by the fact that when she came across her rapist and murderer, Mr Harvey, Susie Salmon was taking a shortcut through a cornfield on her way home from school.

The first setting which is described in detail is the underground cavern which Mr Harvey has prepared for his victim—it is equipped with lights, batteries and shaving things, and has been meticulously prepared.

The other setting in this great novel is Susie's heaven. It is described as looking like a typical suburban high school, complete with an array of sporting facilities. In this world, each person's version of heaven consists of the simplest things they had dreamed of on earth.

For the most part, Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones is set in a suburban area near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.  This setting is important to the novel, since the location of the Salmon family's residence plays a key role in Susie's becoming a victim of Mr. Harvey.  The suburban locale allows Harvey to watch Susie closely without becoming too obvious as a threat, as well as to prepare his underground chamber, which will become the site of Susie's death.  There are many other details related to the importance of this being the primary setting for this novel.

Susie's Heaven also plays an intregal role in the plot of The Lovely Bones.  The characters and settings she encounters there enable her to work her way toward acceptance of her fate, as well as development of the ability to let her family go. 

There are several less significant examples of setting in this novel, such as the sinkhole, additional crime scenes, and the Inbetween.  These settings are important, but do not play roles as critical to the development of the story as the first two mentioned.