Adams County, Pennsylvania

Adams County is a county in Pennsylvania, United States, about 37 miles south of Harrisburg. It
had a population of 103,852 at the 2020 census, an estimated 107,594 by 2025, and covers 519
square miles (1,340 km2) of land centred near 39°52′N 77°13′W.

Gettysburg is the county seat; its postal code is 17325. The county holds 13 boroughs and 21
townships, with no incorporated cities of any kind, and 13 census-designated places sit inside
those townships. It runs on Eastern Time.

Towns & Villages in Adams County

Adams County has 26 named places on the U.S. Census Bureau’s rolls: 13 incorporated
boroughs (Pennsylvania has no cities of its own creation here — boroughs are the
state’s town-level municipality) and 13 unincorporated census-designated places (CDPs)
inside the county’s 21 townships. Boroughs sit outside the township system entirely, so
their Township column below reads —.

The county’s previous published list ran to roughly 90 names, most of them unverifiable
— crossroads and farm-field labels such as “Ram,” “Trust” and
“Tifllie” that carry no Census recognition and, in several cases, no independent
source at all. This table keeps only the 13 boroughs and 13 CDPs the Census Bureau actually
counts. One split worth flagging: Gardners CDP straddles the Adams–Cumberland county line,
and its population figure covers only the Adams County portion in Tyrone Township.

Townships

Adams County’s 21 townships cover the unincorporated land between the boroughs and hold
most of the CDPs listed above.

Four townships — Straban, Reading, Tyrone and Union — have no 2020 census figure on
record; their most recent published counts are all from 2010 (Straban 4,928; Reading 5,780; Tyrone
2,298; Union 3,148), so they are left out of the table above rather than guessed. Straban holds
Hunterstown and part of Lake Heritage, Reading holds Hampton and part of Lake Meade, Tyrone holds
Heidlersburg and Gardners, and Union sits in the county’s southeastern corner on the
Maryland line.

ZIP Codes

• 17325 — Gettysburg (also serves Bonneauville, Heidlersburg, Table Rock and part of Lake Heritage)
• 17340 — Littlestown (also serves Germany Township)
• 17320 — Carroll Valley and Fairfield, a shared ZIP
• 17344 — McSherrystown
• 17350 — New Oxford
• 17316 — East Berlin
• 17307 — Biglerville
• 17303 — Arendtsville
• 17301 — Abbottstown
• 17306 — Bendersville
• 17372 — York Springs
• 17343 — McKnightstown
• 17337 — Idaville

Lake Meade, Midway, Hunterstown, Aspers, Cashtown, Orrtanna, Gardners and Hampton have no ZIP
code of their own; mail runs through the nearest incorporated town’s code instead —
Cashtown’s addresses, for instance, are delivered under Orrtanna’s.

Geography

Adams County sits at the edge of Pennsylvania’s Piedmont, with South Mountain — the
northern extension of the Blue Ridge — rising along the county’s western and northern
edge and rolling farmland covering most of the rest. Of the county’s 522 square miles, 519
are land and about 3 are water, roughly 0.6 percent. There is no large natural lake; the county’s
two biggest bodies of water, Lake Heritage and Lake Meade, are both artificial impoundments built
for residential communities. Rock Creek, Marsh Creek, Conewago Creek and Bermudian Creek are the
main streams, feeding the Susquehanna and Potomac watersheds in different parts of the county.

Cumberland County lies to the north, Franklin County to the west, York County to the east, and
across the Mason-Dixon Line in Maryland, Frederick County to the southwest and Carroll County to
the southeast. Cumberland
County, Franklin
County and York County
all border Adams directly, as does Frederick County, Maryland (which has no page of its own on
this site) and Carroll County,
Maryland.

Demographics

Adams County had a population of 103,852 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts the
county near 107,594 residents. Gettysburg and Littlestown are the two largest incorporated
places, at 7,106 and 4,782 people respectively, though several unincorporated CDPs — Lake
Meade and Lake Heritage among them — outnumber the county’s smaller boroughs. Median
household income runs $76,727 (2022 ACS), above the Pennsylvania figure of $73,824 (2023 ACS).
Population density works out to roughly 200 people per square mile of land, well below the
statewide average, reflecting the county’s largely rural, agricultural character outside the
Gettysburg core.

Economy & Local Life

Manufacturing employs the most county residents, about 8,227 workers, followed by health care
and social assistance at 6,915 and retail trade at 5,676. Zeigler Brothers, an animal-feed
manufacturer founded in 1935, is headquartered in Gardners. New Oxford is home to Sandridge
Crafted Foods, Yazoo Mills and a Pilgrim’s Pride turkey-processing plant. Fruit growing and
apple processing run deep in the county’s economy — Biglerville hosts the National
Apple Museum, and Adams County Winery, one of Pennsylvania’s oldest, operates near Orrtanna.
Tourism tied to the Gettysburg battlefield is the county’s other pillar: Gettysburg National
Military Park, the Eisenhower National Historic Site and Gettysburg College all draw visitors and
jobs to the county seat. The county’s biggest annual event is the National Apple Harvest
Festival, held each fall around Biglerville and Arendtsville.

History

Pennsylvania’s legislature created Adams County on 22 January 1800, carving it out of
York County and naming it for John Adams, the second U.S. president. Gettysburg was named the
county seat at the county’s formation.

On 1–3 July 1863, Union and Confederate armies fought the Battle of Gettysburg on the
farmland just outside the borough, the bloodiest engagement of the American Civil War and the
battle credited with turning back Robert E. Lee’s second invasion of the North. President
Abraham Lincoln delivered the Gettysburg Address at the dedication of the Soldiers’ National
Cemetery there four and a half months later. The battlefield is now preserved as Gettysburg
National Military Park, and the surrounding tourism economy remains one of the county’s
largest employers to this day.

Getting There

No interstate highway crosses Adams County. US 15 and US 30 (the Lincoln Highway) are the
county’s main through routes, along with PA 16, 34, 94, 97, 116, 134, 194, 233, 234 and 394.

• Harrisburg — about 37 miles north
• York — about 30 miles east
• Baltimore, Maryland — about 55 miles south
• Washington, D.C. — about 75 miles south

Adams County has no scheduled commercial air service of its own. Hagerstown Regional Airport in
Maryland and Harrisburg International Airport are the nearest options for commercial or charter
flights. There is no Amtrak station in the county; the closest service runs out of Harrisburg to
the north.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Adams County located?
South-central Pennsylvania, about 37 miles south of Harrisburg and 8 miles from the Maryland
line, bordered by Cumberland, Franklin, York, Frederick and Carroll counties.

What is the population of Adams County?
103,852 at the 2020 census, with an estimate near 107,594 by 2025.

How big is Adams County?
519 square miles (1,340 km2) of land, plus about 3 square miles of water, for a total of roughly
522 square miles.

What is the county seat of Adams County?
Gettysburg, named the seat when the county was formed in 1800.

How many towns are in Adams County?
13 boroughs — Gettysburg, Littlestown, Carroll Valley, McSherrystown, New Oxford,
Bonneauville, East Berlin, Biglerville, Abbottstown, Arendtsville, Bendersville, York Springs and
Fairfield — plus 13 census-designated places spread across the county’s 21 townships.

What ZIP codes does Adams County use?
17325 for Gettysburg and several neighboring CDPs, 17340 for Littlestown, 17320 for Carroll
Valley and Fairfield, plus separate codes for McSherrystown, New Oxford, East Berlin, Biglerville,
Arendtsville, Abbottstown, Bendersville, York Springs, McKnightstown and Idaville.

What is Adams County known for?
The Battle of Gettysburg, fought there 1–3 July 1863, and the apple orchards around
Biglerville and Arendtsville that host the county’s National Apple Harvest Festival each
fall.

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