Butler County, Pennsylvania

Butler County is a county in Pennsylvania, United States, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh,
in the western part of the state. It had a population of 193,763 at the 2020 census, an
estimated 200,169 by 2025, and covers 795 square miles (2,060 km2) of land and water centred
near 40°55′N 79°55′W.

Butler is the county seat and the county’s only city; its postal code is 16001. The
county holds 1 city, 23 boroughs and 12 census-designated places across 33 townships, and it
runs on Eastern Time.

Towns & Villages in Butler County

Butler County has 36 named places on record: the city of Butler, 23 boroughs and 12
census-designated places (CDPs) with no local government of their own. Pop. lists the 2020
census count where the Census Bureau published one for that place; Township names the civil
township surrounding it — boroughs and the city are self-governing and not part of any
township, so that column reads — for them.

Four names on this list double as township names elsewhere in the county, and the two are
separate governments. Butler the city is surrounded by Butler Township, a much larger unit that
holds four of the CDPs above. Connoquenessing borough and Connoquenessing Township are
neighbors, not the same place. Fairview borough and Fairview Township are likewise distinct.
Slippery Rock borough does not sit inside Slippery Rock Township — the township instead
contains the Slippery Rock University CDP, home to the state university campus. Two bordering
counties, Mercer and Venango, share their names with Butler County townships as well, which is
worth knowing before typing an address.

Townships

Six of the county’s 33 townships have a published 2020 population; the rest are largely
rural and the Census Bureau reports their counts only inside the county total.

ZIP Codes

• 16001 — Butler (also covers 16002 and 16003, Butler PO box ZIPs)
• 16063 — Zelienople
• 16057 — Slippery Rock
• 16033 — Evans City
• 16046 — Mars
• 16056 — Saxonburg
• 16052 — Prospect
• 16037 — Harmony
• 16025 — Chicora
• 16038 — Harrisville
• 16029 — East Butler
• 16027 — Connoquenessing
• 16059 — Valencia
• 16024 — Callery
• 16030 — Eau Claire
• 16051 — Portersville
• 16061 — West Sunbury
• 16050 — Petrolia
• 16041 — Karns City

Seven Fields, Bruin, West Liberty, Fairview and Cherry Valley have no ZIP code of their own;
mail there is delivered under a neighboring town’s code. The county’s 12 CDPs work the
same way — they have no post office and no ZIP of their own, and addresses inside them use
whichever incorporated town’s ZIP covers that stretch of township road.

Geography

Butler County sits on the glaciated section of the Allegheny Plateau, a landscape of rolling
hills and narrow stream valleys draining south toward the Ohio River system. Of its total area,
789 square miles are land and 6.1 square miles are water, about 0.8 percent — low for the
region. Connoquenessing Creek and Slippery Rock Creek are the county’s two principal
streams, both flowing west toward the Beaver River. Lake Arthur, a reservoir inside Moraine
State Park in the county’s southwest corner, is the largest single body of water and gave
its name to the nearby Lake Arthur Estates CDP.

Mercer County lies to the
northwest, Venango County
to the north, Clarion County to the
northeast, Armstrong County to the
east, Westmoreland County to the
southeast, Allegheny County, home to
Pittsburgh, to the south, Beaver
County to the southwest, and Lawrence
County to the west — all eight bordering counties have their own pages on this site.

Demographics

Butler County had a population of 193,763 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts
the county near 200,169 residents by 2025. Cranberry Township, the county’s most populous
municipality even though it has no single town center, leads at 33,087, followed by the city of
Butler at 13,502 and the Homeacre-Lyndora CDP, inside Butler Township, at 6,721. Median
household income runs $89,843, well above Pennsylvania’s statewide figure of $73,824 (2023
ACS). Population density works out to about 246 people per square mile of land, driven heavily
by the Cranberry Township-Adams Township corridor along Interstate 79, the suburban edge of
metropolitan Pittsburgh.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most residents of the county, about 14,621
workers, followed by manufacturing at 12,825 and retail trade at 12,140. Cranberry Township is
the county’s commercial and employment center: Westinghouse Electric Company runs its
corporate headquarters there with more than 3,000 workers, alongside MSA Safety, Giant Eagle and
PPG Architectural Coatings, and the township alone accounts for roughly 20,500 jobs. In Butler
city, Cleveland-Cliffs (the former AK Steel plant), VA Butler Healthcare, Armstrong Group of
Companies and Penn United Technologies are major employers, and Butler Area School District is
the largest single district in the county. Slippery Rock University, a public university with
its own CDP inside Slippery Rock Township, anchors the county’s southwestern communities.

History

Pennsylvania’s legislature formed Butler County on 12 March 1800, carving it out of
Allegheny County. It was named for General Richard Butler, a Revolutionary War officer killed at
St. Clair’s Defeat in 1791. The city of Butler was settled in 1803 by John and Samuel
Cunningham, became a borough in 1817 and incorporated as a city in 1918.

Butler city was an early center of American automaking: the Standard Steel Car Company opened
a plant there in 1902, and the American Bantam Car Company, working from Butler in 1940,
developed the prototype that became the original Willys Jeep. On 13 July 2024, a former US
president survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally near the Butler Farm Show
grounds, an event that put the county’s name in national headlines.

Getting There

Interstate 79 crosses the county north-south through Cranberry and Adams townships, and the
Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 76) clips its southern edge. US Route 19 and US Route 422 are
the main state highways, along with Interstate 80 reaching the county’s northern
townships.

• Pittsburgh — about 30 miles south
• New Castle — about 35 miles west
• Kittanning — about 25 miles southeast
• Franklin — about 40 miles north

Pittsburgh International Airport, roughly 35 miles southwest of Butler, is the nearest major
commercial airport. Butler County Airport, on the city’s north side, handles general
aviation. The county has no Amtrak station of its own; the nearest is Pittsburgh’s Amtrak
station downtown.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Butler County located?
It sits on Pennsylvania’s Allegheny Plateau, about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, bordered
by Mercer, Venango, Clarion, Armstrong, Westmoreland, Allegheny, Beaver and Lawrence counties.

What is the population of Butler County?
193,763 at the 2020 census, with an estimate near 200,169 by 2025.

How big is Butler County?
795 square miles (2,060 km2) in total, of which 789 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Butler County?
Butler is the county seat, incorporated as a city in 1918.

How many towns and villages are in Butler County?
Thirty-six named places — the city of Butler, 23 boroughs and 12 census-designated
places — spread across 33 townships.

What ZIP codes does Butler County use?
16001 for Butler, plus separate codes for Zelienople, Slippery Rock, Evans City, Mars,
Saxonburg, Prospect, Harmony, Chicora, Harrisville, East Butler, Connoquenessing, Valencia,
Callery, Eau Claire, Portersville, West Sunbury, Petrolia and Karns City.

What is Butler County known for?
The American Bantam Car Company’s prototype for the original Willys Jeep, developed in
Butler city in 1940, and the July 2024 assassination attempt at a rally near the Butler Farm
Show grounds.

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