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.Henry C. Bradsby, History of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, Volume 1, 1893, Pages 232-233 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.
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. (The courts were organized in October 1878.) 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 (1.3%) is water. It has a humid continental climate which is warm-summer (Dfb) except along the Lackawanna River from Olyphant and Blakely below Peckville on down and along the Susquehanna where it is hot-summer (Dfa). 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 Susquehanna County (north) Wayne County (east) Monroe County (southeast) Luzerne County (southwest) Wyoming County (west)
Major highways
Demographics
Racial and ethnic composition +Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 1980Pop 1990Pop 2000Pop 2010 Pop 2020% 1980% 1990% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)224,939214,817204,560192,250175,24698.70%98.07%95.90%89.65%81.17%Black or African American alone (NH)1,0801,5372,6624,7947,4150.47%0.70%1.25%2.24%3.43%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)681581632202760.03%0.07%0.08%0.10%0.13%Asian alone (NH)7651,3251,5823,6016,7620.34%0.60%0.74%1.68%3.13%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)x included in the Asian category in the 1980 Censusx included in the Asian category in the 1990 Census184128xx0.01%0.02%0.01%Other race alone (NH)2541131873158280.11%0.05%0.09%0.15%0.38%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)x not an option in the 1980 Censusx not an option in the 1990 Census1,1652,5347,074xx0.55%1.18%3.28%Hispanic or Latino (any race)8021,0892,95810,68218,2670.35%0.50%1.39%4.98%8.46%Total227,908219,039213,295214,437215,896 100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%100.00%
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.
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 (of any race). 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
According to the Secretary of State's office, Democrats hold a majority of the voters in Lackawanna County. Lackawanna County Voter Registration Statistics as of January 7, 2025 Political Party Total Voters Percentage Democratic 76,158 51.3% Republican 52,298 35.3% No Party Affiliation 16,587 11.1% Third Parties 3,432 2.3% Total 148,475 100.00%
The Democratic Party has been historically dominant in county-level politics since the rise of new immigrant populations and their descendants since the mid-19th century. The county is part of Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district.
On the state and national levels, Lackawanna County has strongly favored the Democratic Party for the last ninety years. It leaned Republican from 1896 to 1924, only failing to back William Howard Taft during that timespan when the party's vote was split between him and former president Theodore Roosevelt. The county has only voted for the Republican candidate three times since 1928: in the national Republican landslides of 1956, 1972, and 1984. In 2000, Democrat Al Gore won 60% of the vote and Republican George W. Bush won 36%. In 2004 Democrat John Kerry received 56% of the vote and Bush received 42%. In 2006, Democrats Governor Ed Rendell and Senator Bob Casey, Jr., won 70% and 73% of the vote in Lackawanna County, respectively. In 2008 three of four Democrats running statewide carried the county, with Barack Obama receiving 63% of the county vote to 37% for John McCain. Although Obama easily carried Lackawanna County again in 2012, Donald Trump came very close to beating Hillary Clinton in 2016. However, in 2020, Lackawanna County voted for Joe Biden, a native son of the county, by over 8 points, an improvement over Clinton's margin but not as high as either of Obama's. In Lackawanna County, Democratic strength primarily comes from the city of Scranton and its immediate suburbs, while Republicans do better in the more rural, outer parts of the county.
County commissioners OfficialPartyTerm endsChris ChermakRepublican2027Bill GaughanDemocratic2027Thom WelbyDemocratic2028
County Row Officers OfficeOfficialPartyTerm endsClerk of Judicial RecordsMauri B. KellyDemocratic2027 (Resigning September 2025)ControllerGary DiBileoDemocratic2027CoronerTimothy RowlandDemocratic2027TreasurerAngela Rempe JonesDemocratic2027District AttorneyBrian GallagherDemocratic2029Recorder of DeedsEvie Rafalko-McNultyDemocratic2029Register of WillsFrances KovaleskiDemocratic2029SheriffMark McAndrewDemocratic2029
United States House of Representatives : DistrictRepresentativeParty8Rob BresnahanRepublican
United States Senate : SenatorPartyDave McCormickRepublicanJohn FettermanDemocratic
State House of Representatives : DistrictRepresentativeParty112Kyle MullinsDemocratic113Kyle DonahueDemocratic114Bridget Malloy KosierowskiDemocratic118Jim HaddockDemocratic
State senate : DistrictSenatorParty22Marty FlynnDemocratic
Education
Lackawanna County Workforce investment Board - Scranton
Colleges and universities Johnson College Keystone College (also in Wyoming County) Lackawanna College Marywood University Penn State Scranton Geisinger Commonwealth School of Medicine University of Scranton
Public K-12 schools Public school districts They include: - Text list Abington Heights School District Carbondale Area School District Dunmore School District Forest City Regional School District (also in Susquehanna and Wayne Counties) Lackawanna Trail School District (also in Wyoming County) Lakeland School District Mid Valley School District North Pocono School District (also in Wayne County) Old Forge School District Riverside School District Scranton School District Valley View School District
Charter schools Fell Charter Elementary School, Simpson, GR K-8 Howard Gardner Multiple Intelligence Charter School, Scranton, GR PreK-8 Scranton School for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Children – public charter school offering pre-K through 12th-grade education to eligible deaf and hard-of-hearing children located in South Abington Township, Pennsylvania
Public vocational technology schools Career Technology Center of Lackawanna County
State-operated schools Scranton State School for the Deaf was in the county until it closed in 2009.
Intermediate unit Northeastern Educational Intermediate Unit #19 (NEIU19) 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