Lebanon County, Pennsylvania

Lebanon County is a county in Pennsylvania, United States, about 72 miles northwest of
Philadelphia and roughly 25 miles east of Harrisburg. It had a population of 143,257 at the 2020
census, an estimated 146,380 by 2025, and covers 362 square miles (940 km2) centred near
40°22′N 76°28′W.

Lebanon is the county seat and the county’s only city; its postal code is 17042. The county
holds 1 city, 7 boroughs and roughly two dozen smaller communities across 18 townships, and it
runs on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 42075.

Towns & Villages in Lebanon County

Lebanon County has 35 named places on record: 8 incorporated municipalities (1 city and 7
boroughs) and 27 unincorporated places, 14 of them recognized by the Census Bureau as CDPs
(census designated places). Unincorp. covers hamlets, crossroads and old mill sites with no
Census designation and no population figure of their own.

The county’s previous list on this page carried dozens of unverified GNIS hamlet names,
including “Kutztown” — a real place, but one that sits in Berks County, not Lebanon
County. It has been dropped here along with other entries that could not be confirmed against
Census or gazetteer sources. Fort Indiantown Gap is unusual among the CDPs: it straddles East
Hanover and Union townships and functions as an active Pennsylvania National Guard training
center rather than an ordinary village.

Townships

Lebanon County is divided into 18 townships. Per-township 2020 population figures are not
separately published beyond the county’s largest, Annville, so the list below runs
alphabetically rather than by size; readers looking for population should use the CDP figures in
the table above, since most named villages sit inside these townships.

ZIP Codes

• 17042 — Lebanon (also serves 17046, a Lebanon PO box ZIP, and Cleona)
• 17078 — Palmyra
• 17016 — Cornwall
• 17067 — Myerstown
• 17003 — Annville
• 17073 — Newmanstown
• 17038 — Jonestown
• 17087 — Richland
• 17026 — Fredericksburg
• 17088 — Schaefferstown
• 17064 — Mount Gretna

Avon, Campbelltown, Fort Indiantown Gap, Hebron, Lebanon South, Mount Gretna Heights, Pleasant
Hill, Quentin, Sand Hill, Timber Hills and the smaller unincorporated hamlets have no ZIP code of
their own; mail there is delivered under the nearest incorporated borough or the city of
Lebanon’s code.

Geography

Lebanon County sits in the Lebanon Valley, a limestone lowland in Pennsylvania’s South
Central region, bounded by ridges of the Blue Mountain to the north and by the hills around
Cornwall to the south. Of its 362 square miles, 362 are land and 0.7 are water, about 0.2 percent
— low even for an inland Pennsylvania county, since Lebanon has no natural lake and depends
on creeks rather than reservoirs for most of its surface water. Swatara Creek crosses the
county’s northwest corner on its way to the Susquehanna River, and Quittapahilla Creek, a
Swatara tributary, runs through the valley past Lebanon and Palmyra.

Schuylkill County lies to the northeast, Berks County to the east, Lancaster County to the
south, and Dauphin County to the west and northwest. Schuylkill County, Berks County, Lancaster County and Dauphin County all border Lebanon
directly.

Demographics

Lebanon County had a population of 143,257 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 146,380 residents by 2025. Lebanon and Palmyra are the two largest communities, the
city alone holding close to a fifth of the county’s population. Median household income runs
$78,425, slightly above Pennsylvania’s statewide figure of $73,824. Population density works
out to roughly 396 people per square mile of land, moderate for a county that mixes a small urban
core with farmland stretching toward the Blue Mountain ridge.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 11,825 people,
followed by manufacturing at 9,071 and retail trade at 8,482, out of a workforce of roughly
69,000. Lebanon Valley College in Annville, the Harrisburg Area Community College Lebanon Campus,
and Evangelical Seminary anchor the county’s higher education. Lebanon County is also known
regionally for Lebanon bologna, a smoked, tangy beef sausage still produced by Seltzer’s
and other local smokehouses and sold well beyond the county line. The Cornwall Iron Furnace, a
former ironworks and open-pit ore mine, drew visitors as a National Historic Landmark long after
mining ended. The county’s best-known annual event is the Mount Gretna Outdoor Art Show,
held the third weekend in August, a nationally ranked juried show that swells the borough’s
summer population well past its year-round total.

History

The Pennsylvania legislature formed Lebanon County on 16 February 1813 out of parts of Dauphin
and Lancaster counties. The city of Lebanon, its seat, was founded by George Steitz in 1740 and
originally known as Steitztown before taking the name Lebanon, a biblical reference favored by
early German settlers in the region.

The county’s industrial history centers on Cornwall, where iron ore was mined
continuously from the mid-1700s until the pit closed on 30 June 1973, after 236 years of
production — at one point the largest open-pit mining operation in the world. Mount Gretna,
by contrast, grew out of an 1890s Chautauqua camp meeting community built by the Pennsylvania
Chautauqua Society, and its arts-colony character survives in the borough today.

Getting There

Interstate 78 crosses the county’s north side and Interstate 81 clips its northwest
corner; the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76) runs along the southern edge. US 22, US 322 and
US 422 also cross the county, along with several state routes linking Lebanon to its boroughs.

• Harrisburg — about 25 miles west
• Hershey — about 15 miles west
• Reading — about 30 miles east
• Allentown — about 45 miles northeast

Harrisburg International Airport, roughly 25 miles west of Lebanon, is the nearest major
commercial airport. Amtrak’s Keystone Corridor stops at Harrisburg and Middletown, both
about a 30-minute drive from Lebanon; the county itself has no active passenger rail station.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Lebanon County located?
It sits in Pennsylvania’s South Central region, in the Lebanon Valley about 72 miles
northwest of Philadelphia and 25 miles east of Harrisburg, bordered by Schuylkill, Berks,
Lancaster and Dauphin counties.

What is the population of Lebanon County?
143,257 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 146,380.

How big is Lebanon County?
362 square miles (940 km2), of which 362 square miles are land and 0.7 square miles are water.

What is the county seat of Lebanon County?
Lebanon, founded in 1740 and originally called Steitztown, is the county seat and its only
city.

How many towns and villages are in Lebanon County?
Seven boroughs — Palmyra, Cornwall, Myerstown, Cleona, Jonestown, Richland and Mount
Gretna — plus 14 CDPs and about 13 smaller unincorporated communities, spread across the
county’s 18 townships.

What ZIP codes does Lebanon County use?
17042 and 17046 for Lebanon and Cleona; 17078 for Palmyra; 17016 for Cornwall; 17067 for
Myerstown; 17003 for Annville; 17073 for Newmanstown; 17038 for Jonestown; 17087 for Richland;
17026 for Fredericksburg; 17088 for Schaefferstown; and 17064 for Mount Gretna.

What is Lebanon County known for?
Lebanon bologna, a smoked beef sausage tied to the county’s name; the Cornwall Iron
Furnace, once the site of the world’s largest open-pit iron mine; and the Mount Gretna
Outdoor Art Show each August.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Pennsylvania.