Montgomery County, Pennsylvania


Montgomery County, colloquially referred to as Montco, is in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population of the county was 856,553, making it the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia and Allegheny counties and the most populous county in Pennsylvania without a major city.
The county seat and largest city is Norristown. The county is part of the Philadelphia–Camden–Wilmington PA-NJ–DE–MD metropolitan statistical area, known as the Delaware Valley, and marks the Delaware Valley's northern border with the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania.
The county borders Philadelphia, the cities by population|nation's sixth-largest city], to its southeast, Bucks County to its east, Berks and Lehigh counties to its north, Delaware County to its south, and Chester County to its southwest.
The county was created on September 10, 1784, out of land originally part of Philadelphia County. The first courthouse was housed in Barley Sheaf Inn. The county is named after Richard Montgomery, an American Revolutionary War general killed on December 31, 1775 while attempting to capture Quebec City.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of, of which was land and of which was water.

Adjacent counties

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 856,553 and a median age of 41.4 years. 21.3% of residents were under the age of 18 and 18.7% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 94.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 91.7 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 73.3% White, 9.5% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 7.9% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 2.9% from some other race, and 6.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 6.4% of the population.
96.7% of residents lived in urban areas, while 3.3% lived in rural areas.
There were 328,958 households in the county, of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 53.0% were married-couple households, 15.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 25.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 346,877 housing units, of which 5.2% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 70.8% were owner-occupied and 29.2% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.4%.
Race / Ethnicity Pop 2000Pop 2010% 2000% 2010
White alone 640,019631,784618,24485.32%78.98%72.17%
Black or African American alone 55,30367,58279,5107.37%8.44%9.28%
Native American or Alaska Native alone 6887917630.09%0.09%0.08%
Asian alone 30,12651,35467,7614.01%6.42%7.91%
Pacific Islander alone 2362211680.03%0.02%0.01%
Other race alone 8751,2063,8630.11%0.15%0.45%
Mixed race or Multiracial 7,55012,70331,7321.00%1.58%3.70%
Hispanic or Latino 15,30034,23354,5122.03%4.27%6.36%
Total750,097799,874856,553100.00%100.00%100.00%

2010 census

The largest townships/boroughs in Montgomery County include:
Township/boroughPopulation Density mi2
Lower Merion Township57,8252,526.1
Abington Township55,3103,630.3
Cheltenham Township36,7934,083.1
Municipality of Norristown34,3249,806.9
Upper Merion Township28,3951,593.3
Horsham Township26,1471,398.6
Upper Dublin Township25,5691,960.7
Lower Providence Township25,4361,458.8
Montgomery Township24,7902,067.1
Upper Moreland Township24,0153,202

Economy

Montgomery County is a suburb of Philadelphia, the nation's sixth most populous city. Many Montco residents work in the city, but the county is also a major employment center with large business parks in Blue Bell, Lansdale, Fort Washington, Horsham, and King of Prussia attracting thousands of workers from all over the region. The strong job base and taxes generated by those jobs have resulted in Montgomery County receiving the highest credit rating of 'AAA' from Standard & Poor's, one of fewer than 30 counties in the United States with such a rating. In 2012, Moody's downgraded the general obligation rating to Aa1, and in 2018 the rating was revised back to Aaa.
Major employers include:

Colleges and universities

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School districts:
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Under Pennsylvania law, five types of incorporated municipalities are listed: cities, towns and boroughs in Pennsylvania|boroughs], townships in Pennsylvania|townships], home rule municipalities and, in at most two cases, towns. These boroughs, townships, and home rule municipalities are located in Montgomery County:

Home rule municipalities

Census-designated places

s are geographical areas designated by the United States Census Bureau for the purposes of compiling demographic data. They are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law. Other unincorporated communities, such as villages, may be listed here, as well.
Even though the historic village of Valley Forge, as well as the park, are partially located within Montgomery County, the modern village is in Chester County, PA

Other communities

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Montgomery County.
† county seat
RankCity/Town/etc.Municipal typePopulation
1Lower MerionTownship63,633
2AbingtonTownship58,502
3CheltenhamTownship37,452
4† NorristownMunicipality35,748
5Upper MerionTownship33,613
6Upper DublinTownship26,665
7HorshamTownship26,564
8MontgomeryTownship25,862
9Lower ProvidenceTownship25,625
10Upper MorelandTownship24,015
11PottstownBorough23,433
12King of PrussiaCDP22,028
13Upper ProvidenceTownship21,219
14SpringfieldTownship20,814
15LimerickTownship20,458
16WhitpainTownship20,333
17WhitemarshTownship19,707
18LansdaleBorough18,773
19PlymouthTownship18,256
20TowamencinTownship18,009
21HatfieldTownship17,294
22Upper GwyneddTownship17,072
23West NorritonTownship16,201
24Lower SalfordTownship15,896
25HorshamCDP15,193
26SkippackTownship14,386
27Lower MorelandTownship13,917
28Willow GroveCDP13,730
29East NorritonTownship13,590
30Ardmore CDP13,566
31FranconiaTownship13,259
32MontgomeryvilleCDP12,998
33New HanoverTownship12,973
34Lower PottsgroveTownship12,217
35Lower GwyneddTownship12,076
36DouglassTownship10,585
37HarleysvilleCDP9,899
38WorcesterTownship9,750
39ConshohockenBorough9,261
40PerkiomenTownship8,959
41AudubonCDP8,688
42SanatogaCDP8,496
43Upper HanoverTownship8,350
44HatboroBorough8,238
45KulpsvilleCDP8,159
46GlensideCDP7,737
47Plymouth MeetingCDP7,452
48SoudertonBorough7,191
49AmblerBorough6,807
50Maple GlenCDP6,647
51Blue BellCDP6,506
52Penn WynneCDP6,493
53OrelandCDP6,210
54Fort WashingtonCDP5,910
55Bryn MawrCDP5,879
56Upper PottsgroveTownship5,870
57WyndmoorCDP5,853
58GilbertsvilleCDP5,508
59TrooperCDP5,481
60CollegevilleBorough5,043
61BridgeportBorough5,015
62RoyersfordBorough4,940
63Telford Borough4,928
64Lower FrederickTownship4,830
65EaglevilleCDP4,800
66FlourtownCDP4,786
67JenkintownBorough4,719
68NarberthBorough4,492
69GladwyneCDP4,096
70TrappeBorough4,002
71PennsburgBorough3,889
72Spring HouseCDP3,978
73SkippackCDP3,928
74West PottsgroveTownship3,798
75Upper FrederickTownship3,703
76StoweCDP3,697
77MarlboroughTownship3,520
78HatfieldBorough3,496
79PottsgroveCDP3,471
80North WalesBorough3,426
81Halfway HouseCDP3,273
82Upper SalfordTownship3,172
83East GreenvilleBorough3,166
84WyncoteCDP3,081
85SalfordTownship3,035
86RockledgeBorough2,638
87Spring MountCDP2,498
88Red HillBorough2,496
89EvansburgCDP2,410
90Haverford College CDP1,497
91West ConshohockenBorough1,493
92WoxhallCDP1,297
93SchwenksvilleBorough1,296
94Bryn AthynMunicipality1,272
95Arcadia UniversityCDP758
96Green LaneBorough490

Transportation

Major roads and highways

  • Public transportation

The county is served by the SEPTA, which include bus, commuter rail, and interurban rail services. Pottstown Area Rapid Transit also provides bus services around the Pottstown area in the western portion of the county.
Commercial airline service is provided primarily by Philadelphia International Airport, one of the nation's largest commercial airports, located in Philadelphia and Delaware counties.
Other public use airports include Heritage Field in Limerick Township, Wings Field in Blue Bell, and Pottstown Municipal Airport in Pottstown.

Culture

The majority of the county has a hot-summer humid continental climate. In most southern areas of the county and along the Schuylkill River including Pottstown a humid subtropical climate exists. The hardiness zone is 7a for the majority of the county and 7b in most areas south of Interstate 276. 6b only continues to exist in some very small higher areas in the north.

Politics

As of May 19, 2025, there are 614,908 registered voters in Montgomery County.
Montgomery County historically was a stronghold for the Republican Party. The county was the only one carried by Barbara Hafer in the 1990 gubernatorial election over the incumbent governor, Bob Casey. However, the Democratic Party has made substantial gains in the county over the last quarter-century and gained the registration edge early in 2008.
Like neighboring Bucks County, the county voted Democratic during the Civil War era, voting Democratic between 1856 and 1876, except in 1860 and 1872. Like most of Philadelphia's suburbs, the brand of Republicanism practiced in Montgomery County for much of the 20th century was moderate. As the national parties have polarized, the county's voters have increasingly supported Democrats at the national level. The county voted for the Republican presidential nominee in all but three elections from 1880 to 1988, that being in 1892, 1912 and 1964. However, Montgomery County residents have voted for the Democratic presidential nominee since 1992, with the margins progressively increasing between every election, except in 2012. In the 2020 election, Joe Biden became the first Democrat to obtain over 60% of the county's vote.
Despite Donald Trump's victory in the state of Pennsylvania in the 2016 presidential election, Montgomery County was one of the few counties in Pennsylvania that swung in the Democratic presidential candidates' direction with Hillary Clinton winning Montgomery County with 58.87% of the vote, an improvement from Barack Obama's 56.6% vote share in 2012. In the 2016 U.S. Senate and Pennsylvania Attorney General elections, Montgomery County voted for Katie McGinty and Josh Shapiro, both Democrats.
Most county-level offices were held by Republicans until after the 2007 election, when Democrats picked up control of five row offices. Democrats have also won several elections in the Pennsylvania General Assembly in recent years, including two GOP-leaning State House districts in 2004, the 148th Representative District|148th] with Mike Gerber and the 153rd Representative District|153rd] with current Governor Josh Shapiro. Today, although the county is very Democratic at the national level, at the state and local level, it is not specifically partisan.
In the 2004 United States Senate election, Republican Arlen Specter won the county over Montco resident Joe Hoeffel, but Democrat Bob Casey, Jr. out-polled Rick Santorum in the 2006 Senate election. In 2006, Democrat Rick Taylor unseated incumbent Republican Eugene McGill in the 151st Representative District|151st], although Taylor lost in 2010 to Republican Todd Stephens and, in 2008, Democrat Matthew Bradford unseated incumbent Republican Jay Moyer in the 70th Representative District|70th]. Six of the county's 12 state house seats and four of the county's eight senate seats are now held by Democrats. All four statewide Democratic candidates carried Montgomery in 2008, with Barack Obama receiving 59% of the county's vote.

Government

Montgomery County is governed by a three-person county commission. The current composition is two Democrats and one Republican. By law, the county commission must have one member of a minority party represented.

County commissioners

County row offices

As of the November 2019 election:
OfficeHolderParty
Clerk of CourtsLori SchreiberDemocratic
ControllerKaren Geld SanchezDemocratic
CoronerJanine DarbyDemocratic
District AttorneyKevin R. SteeleDemocratic
ProthonotaryNoah MarlierDemocratic
Recorder of DeedsJeanne SorgDemocratic
Register of WillsTina LawsonDemocratic
SheriffSean KilkennyDemocratic
TreasurerJason SalusDemocratic
Jury CommissionerJoanne Cisco OlszewskiDemocratic
Jury CommissionerMerry WoodsRepublican

Same-sex marriage

On July 24, 2013, Montgomery County Register of Wills D. Bruce Hanes, a Democrat, announced he would begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples, flouting Pennsylvania law banning such unions. Hanes called the commonwealth's ban "arbitrary and suspect", saying he believes it violates the Pennsylvania Constitution and the United States Constitution. The Republican administration of Governor Tom Corbett filed suit in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania in an attempt to block Hanes from licensing same-sex marriage. Commonwealth Court Judge Dan Pellegrini ordered Hanes in September 2013 to stop issuing same-sex marriage licenses. After Federal Judge John Jones threw out Pennsylvania's ban on same-sex marriage in May 2014, calling it unconstitutional, offices in other counties were able to issue these licenses, while Hanes had to wait for the ruling against him to be removed.

United States Senate

United States House of Representatives

DistrictRepresentativeParty
1Brian FitzpatrickRepublican
4Madeleine DeanDemocratic
5Mary Gay ScanlonDemocratic

State senate

State House of Representatives