Luzerne County, Pennsylvania

Luzerne County is a county in Pennsylvania, United States, about 18 miles southwest of
Scranton in the state’s northeastern corner. It had a population of 325,594 at the 2020
census, an estimated 332,126 by 2025, and covers 906 square miles (2,350 km2) centred near
41°11′N 75°59′W.

Wilkes-Barre is the county seat and largest city; its postal code is 18701. The county is
divided into 76 independently governing municipalities — 4 cities, 36 boroughs and 36
townships, second only to Allegheny County statewide — and it runs on Eastern Time. Its
FIPS code is 42079.

Towns & Villages in Luzerne County

Luzerne County has no townships that contain separate incorporated towns the way some other
states do — every city, borough and township listed here is its own first-class
municipality with its own local government. All 76 are listed below, ranked by 2020 census
population. Beyond them, the Census Bureau also recognizes 27 census-designated places (CDPs)
that sit inside these municipalities but have no government of their own; the largest are
covered further down.

Two boroughs share a name with a township that is a separate municipality: Dallas Borough and
Dallas Township are adjoining but distinct governments, and the same is true of Conyngham
Borough and Conyngham Township, and of Exeter Borough and Exeter Township. Each pair has its
own council and its own population count above — they are not the same place counted
twice.

Twenty-seven census-designated places sit inside these municipalities without a government of
their own: Beech Mountain Lakes, Browntown, Chase, East Berwick, Georgetown, Glen Lyon,
Harleigh, Hickory Hills, Hilldale, Hudson, Inkerman, Lattimer, Misericordia University,
Mocanaqua, Mountain Top, Nuremberg, Pardeesville, Pikes Creek, Plains, Shavertown, Sheatown,
Silkworth, Trucksville, Upper Exeter, Wanamie, West Nanticoke and Weston. The Census Bureau
does not publish separate 2020 population counts for most of these under Luzerne County’s
subdivision file, so none are listed here with a number rather than a guessed one. Mountain
Top, straddling Wright and Rice townships along Route 309, is the best known — its own ZIP
code, 18707, is shared with Wright Township above. Shavertown and Trucksville, both in Kingston
Township, use ZIP 18708. Glen Lyon, in Newport Township, uses 18617.

ZIP Codes

Luzerne County uses 56 ZIP codes. Wilkes-Barre alone accounts for a dozen, from 18701–18711
downtown and in its surrounding townships to a cluster of 187xx codes (18762–18773) for
Wilkes-Barre University campuses and large-volume mail customers. Hazleton and West Hazleton
share 18201–18202. Outlying mining patches and rural communities in the county’s
southern half — Beaver Meadows, Drifton, Drums, Ebervale, Harleigh, Lattimer Mines,
Milnesville, Rock Glen, Saint Johns, Sugarloaf, Sybertsville and Weston — each carry their
own 182xx code even though most have no local government. The Back Mountain and Harveys Lake
area north of Wilkes-Barre runs on a separate 186xx series (Dallas 18612, Harveys Lake 18618,
Lehman 18627), and the Susquehanna River towns southwest of Wilkes-Barre use 18634 (Nanticoke),
18635 (Nescopeck) and 18651 (Plymouth/Larksville). Places without a listed ZIP of their own,
including most of the smaller townships in the table above, receive mail under a neighboring
town’s code.

Geography

Luzerne County sits in Pennsylvania’s Wyoming Valley, a flat basin along the Susquehanna
River flanked by ridges of the Appalachian Mountains, including Buck Mountain, Nescopeck
Mountain and Red Rock Mountain. Of its 906 square miles, 890 are land and 16 — about 1.8
percent — are water. The Susquehanna River is the county’s largest waterway, draining
most of the county along with the Lackawanna River, Nescopeck Creek and Solomon Creek; the
Lehigh River forms part of the southeastern county line. Harveys Lake, the county’s
largest natural lake, sits in the Back Mountain area northwest of Wilkes-Barre. The
county’s highest point is Cherry Ridge in Fairmount Township at 2,460 feet (750 meters);
the lowest, about 512 feet (156 meters), lies near Shickshinny on the Susquehanna.

Wyoming County borders Luzerne to the north, Lackawanna County to the northeast, Monroe
County to the east, Carbon County to the southeast, Schuylkill County to the south, Columbia
County to the west and Sullivan County to the northwest. Wyoming County, Lackawanna County, Monroe County, Carbon County, Schuylkill County, Columbia County and Sullivan County all
border Luzerne directly.

Demographics

Luzerne County had a population of 325,594 at the 2020 census, and the latest Census Bureau
estimate puts it near 332,126 residents by 2025. Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton are the two largest
communities. Median household income runs $63,691 (2024 estimate), well below Pennsylvania’s
statewide 2023 ACS figure of $73,824. Population density works out to about 370 people per
square mile of land. The county has the largest plurality of residents reporting Polish
ancestry of any county in the United States, alongside large Italian, Irish and German
communities tracing back to the anthracite immigration era; 14.4 percent of residents identify
as Hispanic or Latino as of the 2020 census.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance is the county’s largest employment sector at about
25,875 workers, followed by retail trade at 19,613 and manufacturing at 18,512. Geisinger
Health System is a major regional health care employer. Warehousing and logistics have grown
into a defining industry since the 2000s, driven by the county’s position at the
interchange of Interstate 80 and Interstate 81 — the CenterPoint Commerce & Trade Park
and Humboldt Industrial Park host large fulfillment centers for Amazon and Chewy. The
Susquehanna Steam Electric Station, a nuclear plant near Berwick on the Luzerne–Columbia
county line, is a major utility employer. Luzerne County’s GDP is $20.58 billion, the
largest in Northeastern Pennsylvania, and the county ranks 11th among Pennsylvania’s 67
counties for tourism spending, part of a group of counties generating over $1 billion in
annual visitor spending.

History

The Pennsylvania General Assembly created Luzerne County on September 25, 1786, from part of
Northumberland County, ending a decade of armed conflict between Connecticut and Pennsylvania
settlers known as the Pennamite–Yankee Wars. The county was named for Chevalier de la
Luzerne, a French diplomat to the American revolutionary government. Wilkes-Barre became the
county seat. On July 3, 1778, during the Revolutionary War, Loyalist and Seneca forces defeated
a Patriot militia at the Battle of Wyoming, killing 302 American defenders; a monument in
Wyoming Borough marks the site today.

Anthracite coal drove the county’s 19th-century growth after Philip Ginder found hard
coal near Summit Hill in 1791. Hazleton and Pittston were incorporated as cities in 1891 and
1894 as mining brought waves of European immigrants. The industry also brought disaster: the
Avondale Mine Disaster killed 110 workers on September 6, 1869, the Twin Shaft Disaster killed
58 miners in Pittston City on June 28, 1896, and the Lattimer Massacre of September 10, 1897
— in which a sheriff’s posse fired on unarmed striking miners — killed roughly
nineteen people. Mining accidents continued into the 20th century, including a June 1919
explosion that killed 92 miners at the Baltimore Colliery in Wilkes-Barre. On January 22, 1959,
the Susquehanna River broke through worked-out mine tunnels near Pittston in the Knox Mine
Disaster, flooding the Wyoming Valley’s deep anthracite mines and effectively ending large-scale
underground mining in the county.

More recently, Luzerne County government was the subject of a corruption scandal from 2008 to
2010 in which three county judges and several officials faced criminal charges, including the
“kids for cash” case in which juvenile judges were convicted of taking payments tied
to sentencing decisions. Voters responded by adopting a home rule charter on November 2, 2010,
replacing the board of county commissioners with an elected county council and a professional
county manager starting in 2012.

Getting There

Interstate 81 runs north–south through the county past Wilkes-Barre, and Interstate 80
crosses the southern half near Hazleton; Interstate 476, the Northeast Extension of the
Pennsylvania Turnpike, also passes through. US Route 11 and Pennsylvania Route 309, the North
Cross Valley Expressway, are the main state routes through Wilkes-Barre and Kingston.

• Scranton — about 18 miles northeast
• Allentown — about 50 miles southeast
• Harrisburg — about 100 miles southwest
• Philadelphia — about 120 miles southeast

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport, in Pittston Township about 10 miles from
downtown Wilkes-Barre, is the county’s commercial airport, with service on American,
Breeze Airways and United. Amtrak runs no direct trains into the county; its Thruway motorcoach
route connects Wilkes-Barre and Scranton, via White Haven and Allentown, to Amtrak trains at
Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Luzerne County located?
It sits in Pennsylvania’s Wyoming Valley in the state’s northeastern corner, about 18
miles southwest of Scranton, bordered by Wyoming, Lackawanna, Monroe, Carbon, Schuylkill,
Columbia and Sullivan counties.

What is the population of Luzerne County?
325,594 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 332,126.

How big is Luzerne County?
906 square miles (2,350 km2), of which 890 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Luzerne County?
Wilkes-Barre, the county’s largest city with a 2020 population of 44,328.

How many towns and cities are in Luzerne County?
76 independently governing municipalities — 4 cities, 36 boroughs and 36 townships —
plus 27 census-designated places with no government of their own.

What ZIP codes does Luzerne County use?
56 in total, from 18701–18711 in Wilkes-Barre to 18201–18202 in Hazleton, 18634 in
Nanticoke and 18640–18643 around Pittston.

What is Luzerne County known for?
Its anthracite coal mining history, including the Lattimer Massacre and Knox Mine Disaster, and
today for warehousing and logistics along Interstates 80 and 81.

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