Monroe County is a county in Pennsylvania, United States, in the Pocono Mountains along the Delaware River. It had a population of 168,327 at the 2020 census and covers 617 square miles (1,598 km2) centred near 41°04′N 75°20′W.
Stroudsburg is the county seat and its postal code is 18360. The county has 4 boroughs, 16 townships and dozens of unincorporated communities and lake developments, mostly built up around the Pocono resort economy. Monroe County is in the Eastern time zone.
Towns & Villages in Monroe County
Monroe County has 4 incorporated boroughs — Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg, Mount Pocono and Delaware Water Gap — and 16 townships. Nearly everywhere else on the list below is an unincorporated place or a private lake/vacation-home community, marked Unincorp.; the county has few formally recognized census-designated places outside the boroughs. Populations are given only where the Census Bureau breaks them out separately from their township.
| Place | Type | Township | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stroudsburg | Borough · seat | — | 5,547 | 18360 |
| East Stroudsburg | Borough | — | 9,888 | 18301 |
| Mount Pocono | Borough | — | 3,349 | 18344 |
| Delaware Water Gap | Borough | — | 330 | 18327 |
| Analomink | Unincorp. | Middle Smithfield | — | 18320 |
| Appenzell | Unincorp. | Tunkhannock | — | — |
| Arlington Heights | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Arrowhead Lake | Unincorp. | Coolbaugh | — | 18466 |
| Barton Glen | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Bartonsville | Unincorp. | Stroud | — | 18321 |
| Blakeslee | Unincorp. | Tobyhanna | — | 18610 |
| Blakeslee Estates | Unincorp. | Tobyhanna | — | — |
| Blue Mountain Pines | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Bossardsville | Unincorp. | Eldred | — | — |
| Brainerd Center | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Briar Crest Woods | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Brodheadsville | Unincorp. | Chestnuthill | — | 18322 |
| Buck Hill Falls | Unincorp. | Barrett | — | — |
| Camelot Forest | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Canadensis | Unincorp. | Barrett | — | 18325 |
| Castle Garden | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Castle Rock Acres | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Coolbaugh | Township | Coolbaugh | — | — |
| Coveville | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Craigs Meadow | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Crescent Lake | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Cresco | Unincorp. | Barrett | — | 18326 |
| Dotters Corners | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| East Swiftwater | Unincorp. | Pocono | — | — |
| Echo Lake | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Effort | Unincorp. | Chestnuthill | — | 18330 |
| El-Do Lake | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Emerald Lakes | Unincorp. | Coolbaugh | — | — |
| Fernridge | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Forest Glen | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Foxtown Hill | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Gilbert | Unincorp. | Chestnuthill | — | 18331 |
| Gravel Place | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Hamilton Square | Unincorp. | Hamilton | — | — |
| Henryville | Unincorp. | Barrett | — | 18332 |
| Indian Mountain Lake | Unincorp. | Tobyhanna | — | — |
| Jackson | Township | Jackson | — | — |
| Jonas | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Kellersville | Unincorp. | Hamilton | — | — |
| Kemmererville | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Kingswood Estates | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Kresgeville | Unincorp. | Polk | — | 18333 |
| Kunkletown | Unincorp. | Eldred | — | 18058 |
| Lake Naomi Estates | Unincorp. | Tobyhanna | — | — |
| Little Summit | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Locust Lakes Village | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Long Pond | Unincorp. | Tunkhannock | — | 18334 |
| Lower Tannersville | Unincorp. | Pocono | — | — |
| Marshalls Creek | Unincorp. | Middle Smithfield | — | 18335 |
| McMichael | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Mechanicsville | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Merwinsburg | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Minisink Hills | Unincorp. | Smithfield | — | — |
| Mountainhome | Unincorp. | Barrett | — | 18342 |
| Mushroom Farms | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Neola | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| North Water Gap | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Oak Grove | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Paradise Valley | Unincorp. | Paradise | — | — |
| Parkside | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Penn Estates | Unincorp. | Stroud | — | — |
| Pleasant Valley Estates | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Pocono Country Place | Unincorp. | Coolbaugh | — | — |
| Pocono Farms East | Unincorp. | Coolbaugh | — | — |
| Pocono Lake | Unincorp. | Tobyhanna | — | 18347 |
| Pocono Manor | Unincorp. | Tobyhanna | — | 18349 |
| Pocono Pines | Unincorp. | Tobyhanna / Coolbaugh | — | 18350 |
| Pocono Summit | Unincorp. | Coolbaugh | — | 18346 |
| Reeders | Unincorp. | Price | — | 18352 |
| Resica Falls | Unincorp. | Middle Smithfield | — | — |
| Sandhill | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Saylorsburg | Unincorp. | Ross | — | 18353 |
| Sciota | Unincorp. | Ross | — | 18354 |
| Scotrun | Unincorp. | Pocono | — | 18355 |
| Shawnee on Delaware | Unincorp. | Smithfield | — | 18356 |
| Shoemakers | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Skytop | Unincorp. | Barrett | — | 18357 |
| Smith Gap | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Snydersville | Unincorp. | Ross | — | — |
| Stillwater Lakes | Unincorp. | Tobyhanna | — | — |
| Stormville | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Sun Valley | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Swiftwater | Unincorp. | Pocono | — | 18370 |
| Tannersville | Unincorp. | Pocono | — | 18372 |
| Tobyhanna | Unincorp. | Tobyhanna | — | 18466 |
| Wagners | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Winona Lakes | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
| Wooddale | Unincorp. | — | — | — |
A handful of the county’s Pocono lake-community names sit close to each other and are easy to mix up — Pocono Lake, Pocono Manor, Pocono Pines, Pocono Summit and Pocono Country Place are five separate places, several of them straddling the line between Tobyhanna and Coolbaugh townships. Blakeslee also extends across the county line into Kidder Township, Carbon County.
Townships
| Township | Pop. (2020) | Main settlements |
|---|---|---|
| Coolbaugh | — | Pocono Summit, Arrowhead Lake, Emerald Lakes, Pocono Country Place |
| Tobyhanna | — | Tobyhanna, Pocono Lake, Pocono Manor, Blakeslee, Indian Mountain Lake |
| Stroud | — | Bartonsville, Penn Estates |
| Middle Smithfield | — | Marshalls Creek, Analomink, Resica Falls |
| Chestnuthill | — | Brodheadsville, Effort, Gilbert |
| Pocono | — | Tannersville, Swiftwater, Scotrun |
| Barrett | — | Cresco, Canadensis, Mountainhome, Henryville, Skytop |
| Smithfield | — | Minisink Hills, Shawnee on Delaware |
| Ross | — | Saylorsburg, Sciota, Snydersville |
| Eldred | — | Kunkletown, Bossardsville |
| Price | — | Reeders |
| Tunkhannock | — | Long Pond, Appenzell |
| Hamilton | — | Hamilton Square, Kellersville |
| Polk | — | Kresgeville |
| Paradise | — | Paradise Valley |
| Jackson | — | Rural, no major village center |
The Census Bureau’s 2020 township-level population breakdowns were not independently verifiable for this rewrite and are omitted rather than estimated; Coolbaugh and Tobyhanna townships are, by land area and housing-unit counts, the two largest in the county.
ZIP Codes
- 18360 — Stroudsburg
- 18301 — East Stroudsburg
- 18327 — Delaware Water Gap
- 18344 — Mount Pocono
- 18466 — Tobyhanna
- 18372 — Tannersville
- 18370 — Swiftwater
- 18326 — Cresco
- 18325 — Canadensis
- 18321 — Bartonsville (also serves Stroud Township)
- 18322 — Brodheadsville
- 18330 — Effort
- 18334 — Long Pond
- 18350 — Pocono Pines
- 18346 — Pocono Summit
- 18353 — Saylorsburg
Most of the smaller lake communities and housing developments — Arrowhead Lake, Emerald Lakes, Indian Mountain Lake, Penn Estates and similar — share the ZIP code of the nearest post-office town rather than having one of their own.
Geography
Monroe County sits in the Pocono Mountains, a wooded plateau of the Appalachians marked by lakes, ridgelines and the Delaware Water Gap, where the Delaware River cuts through the Kittatinny Ridge on the county’s eastern edge. The Appalachian Trail crosses the county along that ridge, and the Tannersville Cranberry Bog, a National Natural Landmark, is the southernmost boreal bog in the eastern United States. Other named waterways include Brodhead Creek, Pocono Creek and Tobyhanna Creek.
Monroe County borders Northampton County to the south, Pike County to the northeast, Wayne County to the north, and Carbon County to the west. The Delaware River forms its eastern boundary with Warren County and Sussex County, New Jersey. Bordering Pennsylvania counties: Northampton (south), Pike (northeast), Wayne (north) and Carbon (west).
Demographics
Monroe County had 168,327 residents at the 2020 census, giving it a density of roughly 277 people per square mile across its 608 square miles of land. East Stroudsburg and Stroudsburg, its two boroughs anchoring the Route 611 corridor, are the largest incorporated places; most other residents live in townships or in the county’s many private lake and resort communities. Median household income in the county runs below the Pennsylvania median of $73,824, a pattern common across the Poconos, where a mix of year-round working households, retirees and part-time second-home owners pulls the average down relative to the Lehigh Valley and Philadelphia suburbs.
Economy & Local Life
Tourism built on the Pocono Mountains resort trade is the county’s signature industry — skiing at Camelback and Shawnee Mountain, golf resorts, and lake communities that trace back to the region’s mid-20th-century honeymoon-resort boom. Tobyhanna Army Depot, the U.S. Department of Defense’s largest center for electronics repair and fabrication, is one of the county’s biggest employers. East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania anchors the county seat area with higher education and healthcare jobs, and warehousing and logistics have grown along the Interstate 80 corridor as distribution centers serve the New York and Philadelphia markets.
History
Monroe County was formed on April 1, 1836, from parts of Northampton and Pike counties, and named for President James Monroe. Stroudsburg, its seat, grew up around a fort built during the French and Indian War. The county’s Pocono resorts developed through the 20th century into a major honeymoon and vacation destination for the New York and Philadelphia region, and much of its unincorporated settlement pattern — the lake communities and housing developments that make up most of the towns table above — dates from that era. The Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, established in 1965, protects the county’s stretch of the Delaware River corridor.
Getting There
Interstate 80 crosses the county east–west, with Interstate 380 running south from it toward Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. U.S. Route 209 and Pennsylvania Routes 33, 447 and 611 are the main local highways.
- Scranton — 35 miles north
- Allentown — 30 miles south
- New York City — 90 miles east
- Philadelphia — 90 miles south
The nearest commercial airport is Lehigh Valley International Airport in Allentown; Newark Liberty International, across the Delaware in New Jersey, is a longer but common option for county residents. The county has no scheduled Amtrak service.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Monroe County, Pennsylvania?
It is in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania, along the Delaware River and bordering New Jersey.
What is the population of Monroe County?
168,327 people, per the 2020 census.
How big is Monroe County?
617 square miles (1,598 km2), of which 608 square miles are land.
What is the county seat of Monroe County?
Stroudsburg is the county seat.
How many towns are in Monroe County?
The county has 4 boroughs — Stroudsburg, East Stroudsburg, Mount Pocono and Delaware Water Gap — 16 townships, and dozens of unincorporated lake and resort communities.
What ZIP codes are in Monroe County?
Major ZIP codes include 18360 (Stroudsburg), 18301 (East Stroudsburg), 18344 (Mount Pocono) and 18466 (Tobyhanna), among others listed above.
What is Monroe County known for?
The Pocono Mountains resort industry, the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, and Tobyhanna Army Depot, the Defense Department’s largest electronics repair center.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Pennsylvania.