Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania


Lackawanna County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It had a population of 215,615 in 2022. Its county seat and most populous city is Scranton. The county is part of the Northeast region of the commonwealth.
The county was created on August 13, 1878, following decades of trying to gain its independence from Luzerne County. Lackawanna was Pennsylvania's last county to be created, and the only county to be created after the American Civil War. It is named for the Lackawanna River.
Lackawanna County is the second largest county in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton, PA Metropolitan statistical area. It lies northwest of the Pocono Mountains approximately from the New Jersey border in Montague Township, and approximately from New York state in Kirkwood. The Lehigh River, a tributary of the Delaware River, flows through Lackawanna County.
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History

Lackawanna County is a region that was developed for iron production and anthracite coal mining in the nineteenth century, with its peak of coal production reached in the mid-20th century. Scranton, then still part of Luzerne County, became a center of mining and industry. It was the site of the Lackawanna Iron and Coal Company, which later began to produce steel using the Bessemer process. In 1877 at the time of the Scranton General Strike, the company was managed by William Walker Scranton, whose father had been president until his death in 1872. Two of his cousins had been founders of the company and the city.
The county was created on August 13, 1878, following decades of trying to gain its independence from Luzerne County. It is Pennsylvania's last county to be created, and the only one created after the American Civil War. It is named for the Lackawanna River.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which is land and is water. It has a humid continental climate which is warm-summer except along the Lackawanna River from Olyphant and Blakely below Peckville on down and along the Susquehanna where it is hot-summer. Average monthly temperatures in downtown Scranton range from 26.0 °F in January to 71.9 °F in July, in Carbondale they range from 23.8 °F in January to 69.7 °F in July, and in Moscow they range from 22.6 °F in January to 68.4 °F in July.
The hardiness zone is 6a in higher northern, eastern, and southern areas and 6b in most other areas except in Old Forge, lower areas of Moosic, and Scranton along the Lackawanna River to downtown where it is 7a.

Adjacent counties

Major highways

  • *

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 215,896 and the median age was 42.6 years. 19.6% of residents were under the age of 18 and 20.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.5 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 92.8 males age 18 and over.
There were 88,745 households in the county, of which 25.9% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 42.1% were married-couple households, 20.8% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.8% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 32.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 99,815 housing units, of which 11.1% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 63.0% were owner-occupied and 37.0% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7% and the rental vacancy rate was 8.2%.
82.4% of residents lived in urban areas, while 17.6% lived in rural areas.
As of the 2020 census, the racial makeup of the county was 82.9% White, 3.9% Black or African American, 0.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 3.2% Asian, less than 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 3.9% from some other race, and 5.9% from two or more races; Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 8.5% of the population.
Race / Ethnicity Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010
White alone 204,560192,250175,24695.90%89.65%81.17%
Black or African American alone 2,6624,7947,4151.24%2.23%3.43%
Native American or Alaska Native alone 1632202760.07%0.10%0.12%
Asian alone 1,5823,6016,7620.74%1.67%3.13%
Pacific Islander alone 1841280.00%0.01%0.01%
Other race alone 1873158280.08%0.14%0.38%
Mixed race or Multiracial 1,1652,5347,0740.54%1.18%3.27%
Hispanic or Latino 2,95810,68218,2671.38%4.98%8.46%
Total213,295214,437215,896100.00%100.00%100.00%

2010 census

As of the 2010 census, there were 214,437 people living in the county. 92.0% were White, 2.5% Black or African American, 1.7% Asian, 0.2% Native American, 2.0% of some other race and 1.5% of two or more races. 5.0% were Hispanic or Latino. 20.1% identified as of Italian, 19.9% Irish, 13.0% Polish and 11.4% German ancestry.

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 213,295 people, 86,218 households, and 55,783 families living in the county. The population density was. There were 95,362 housing units at an average density of. The racial makeup of the county was 96.65% White, 1.31% Black or African American, 0.09% Native American, 0.75% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.53% from other races, and 0.66% from two or more races. 1.39% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 22.5% were of Italian, 21.2% Irish, 15.4% Polish and 10.2% German ancestry.
There were 86,218 households, out of which 27.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.9% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.3% were non-families; 31.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 3.00.
In the county, 21.8% of the population was under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 19.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.4 males.

Politics and government

United States House of Representatives

:
DistrictRepresentativeParty
8Rob BresnahanRepublican

United States Senate

:
SenatorParty
Dave McCormickRepublican
John FettermanDemocratic

State House of Representatives

:
DistrictRepresentativeParty
112Kyle MullinsDemocratic
113Kyle DonahueDemocratic
114Bridget Malloy KosierowskiDemocratic
118Jim HaddockDemocratic

State senate

:
DistrictSenatorParty
22Marty FlynnDemocratic

Education

Lackawanna County Workforce investment Board - Scranton

Colleges and universities

Public K-12 schools

Public school districts

They include:

Charter schools

Public vocational technology schools

  • Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County

State-operated schools

Intermediate unit

Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit #19 provides a wide variety of specialized services to public and private schools. It serves the school communities of Lackawanna County, Wayne County, and Susquehanna County. NEIU19 is governed by a board of appointed officials one from the elected school board of each member public school district. Among the serves are: professional development programs for school employees, background/criminal screening of public school employment applicants, technology support to the schools, and special education services. The Intermediate Unit coordinates and supervises the Special Education transportation.

Diocesan schools

The county is also served by the Diocese of Scranton. The Diocese of Scranton operates four regional systems of diocesan schools, which were established after the area received hundreds of thousands of Catholic immigrants. The Holy Cross School System serves Lackawanna County, and is currently composed of seven elementary centers and one secondary center. The Holy Cross System is the second-largest of the four systems, and Holy Cross High School is the only diocesan high school operating a capacity. The Holy Cross System is the result of diocese-wide consolidations made in 2007 in response to decades of declining enrollment as population declined in the area.
As recently as 2000, Lackawanna County was home to four Catholic high schools and nearly fifteen elementary schools. While the current configuration of sites and schools educates a fraction of the students once enrolled in Catholic schools in Lackawanna County, vast improvements have been made to the curriculum. Millions of dollars of capital gains have been invested in the buildings and technologies of the schools. As part of the ongoing effort to stabilize enrollment and offer a sustainable school system which is "spiritually sound and academically excellent", the Holy Cross System is embarking on a more aggressive advertising campaign to promote Catholic education and establish stronger and more diverse programs at the elementary level.
Sacred Heart Elementary in Carbondale and Marian Catholic Elementary in Scranton were closed in 2011 and were incorporated into LaSalle Academy and All Saint's Academy, respectively. This cut the costs of sustaining two faculties and buildings which collectively operated at less than 50% capacity. It bolstered the enrollments of the hubs of elementary education.

Private schools

As reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Education:
  • Abington Christian School, Clarks Green, GR PreK-8
  • Bais Yaakov of Scranton, GR 9-12
  • DePaul School for Dyslexia, Scranton
  • Friendship House
  • Geneva Christian School, Olyphant, GR PreK-8
  • Giant Steps Child Development Center – Carbondale
  • Kinder Kampus Preparatory Preschool, Archbald, PreK
  • Little People Daycare School, Scranton, GR PreK-KG
  • Lourdesmont School, Scranton, Special Education
  • Lutheran Academy – Scranton, GR PreK-6
  • Marywood – Tony Damiano Early Childhood Center, Scranton, GR PreK-KG
  • Milton Eisner Yeshiva High School, Scranton, GR 9-12
  • Montessori Kindergarten, Scranton, GR PreK-KG
  • New Story, Throop, Special Education
  • NHS Autism School, Scranton, Special Education
  • Northeast Child Care Services – Archbald
  • Pocono Mountain Bible Conference – Gouldsboro
  • Revival Baptist Christian School, Scranton, GR K-12
  • Scranton Hebrew Day School, Scranton, GR K-8
  • Scranton Preparatory School, Scranton, GR 9-12
  • St. Gregory's Early Childhood Center, Clarks Green, GR PreK-KG
  • St. Stanislaus Elementary School, Scranton, GR K-8
  • Summit Christian Academy, South Abington Township, PreK-12
  • Triboro Christian Academy, Old Forge, K-12, It participates in the state's Pennsylvania System of School Assessment annual testing

Libraries

  • Abington Community Library – Clarks Summit
  • Carbondale Public Library – Carbondale
  • Children's Library – Scranton
  • Dalton Community Library – Dalton
  • Nancy Kay Holmes Branch – Scranton
  • North Pocono Public Library – Moscow
  • Scranton Public Library – Scranton
  • Taylor Community Library – Taylor
  • Valley Community Library – Peckville
  • Waverly Memorial Library – Waverly

Recreation

Communities

Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities: [List of List of cities in Pennsylvania|cities in Pennsylvania|cities], [List of towns and List of towns and boroughs in Pennsylvania|boroughs in Pennsylvania|boroughs], [List of List of townships in Pennsylvania|townships in Pennsylvania|townships], and one town. The following cities, boroughs and townships are located in Lackawanna County:

Cities

Boroughs

Townships

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Lackawanna County.
† county seat
RankCity/Town/etc.Municipal typePopulation
1† 'ScrantonCity76,089
2DunmoreBorough14,057
3CarbondaleCity8,891
4Old ForgeBorough8,313
5ArchbaldBorough6,984
6BlakelyBorough6,564
7TaylorBorough6,263
8Dickson CityBorough6,070
9MoosicBorough5,719
10OlyphantBorough5,151
11Clarks SummitBorough5,116
12JessupBorough4,676
13ThroopBorough4,088
14JermynBorough2,169
15ChinchillaCDP2,098
16MoscowBorough2,026
17MayfieldBorough1,807
18Mount CobbCDP1,799
19Clarks GreenBorough1,476
20SimpsonCDP1,275
21Big Bass Lake CDP1,270
22DaltonBorough1,234
23GlenburnCDP953
24VandlingBorough751
25WaverlyCDP604
26Eagle Lake'CDP12