Columbia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 64,727. Its county seat is Bloomsburg. The county was created on March 22, 1813, from part of Northumberland County. It was named Columbia, alluding to the United States and Christopher Columbus. The county is part of the Central region of the commonwealth.

Columbia County is part of the Bloomsburg–Berwick metropolitan area.

Geography

thumb|View of northern Columbia County, Pennsylvania from Kramer Hill Road in Fishing Creek Township. On the horizon (about 8-10 miles away) is North Mountain. The borough of Benton is in the center of the picture.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.4%) is water. The southern tip of Columbia County is part of the Coal Region. The area of the county from the Susquehanna River south to several miles south of Numidia consists mostly of farmland and state game lands. Several communities developed along the Susquehanna River, such as Bloomsburg and Catawissa. From the Susquehanna River north as far as Waller, the county is mostly farmland with several patches of forest. North of Waller, the county is mostly state game lands and mountains.

The major streams in Columbia County are the Susquehanna River, Fishing Creek, Briar Creek, Catawissa Creek, and Roaring Creek.

Mountains

Note: Only mountains higher than are listed

{|class="sortable wikitable"

|- text-align:center

!Name

!Height

!Image

|-

|Red Rock Mountain || || 200px

|-

|Central Mountain || ||

|-

|Chimneystack Rock || ||

|-

|Buck Mountain || || 200px

|-

|Catawissa Mountain || || 200px

|-

|Big Mountain || ||

|-

|Knob Mountain|| || 200px

|-

|Nescopeck Mountain || || 200px

|-

|Lee Mountain || || 200px

|-

|McCauley Mountain || || 200px

|}

Source:

Major highways

Adjacent counties

  • Sullivan County (north)
  • Luzerne County (east)
  • Schuylkill County (southeast)
  • Northumberland County (southwest)
  • Montour County (west)
  • Lycoming County (northwest)

State park

Part of Ricketts Glen State Park is in the northern portion of Columbia County.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 64,727. The median age was 41.6 years. 18.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 20.4% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 94.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 92.1 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 92.0% White, 1.4% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.2% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 1.3% from some other race, and 3.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 3.3% of the population.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+Columbia County, Pennsylvania – Racial and ethnic composition<br><small></small>

!Race / Ethnicity <small>(NH = Non-Hispanic)</small>

!Pop 2000

!Pop 2010

!

!% 2000

!% 2010

!

|-

|White alone (NH)

|62,269

|63,500

|style='background: #ffffe6; |58,831

|97.06%

|94.36%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |90.89%

|-

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|481

|1,190

|style='background: #ffffe6; |867

|0.74%

|1.76%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.33%

|-

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|85

|57

|style='background: #ffffe6; |71

|0.13%

|0.08%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.10%

|-

|Asian alone (NH)

|332

|547

|style='background: #ffffe6; |748

|0.51%

|0.81%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.15%

|-

|Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|13

|14

|style='background: #ffffe6; |17

|0.02%

|0.02%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.02%

|-

|Other race alone (NH)

|32

|38

|style='background: #ffffe6; |159

|0.04%

|0.05%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.24%

|-

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|330

|600

|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,894

|0.51%

|0.89%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.92%

|-

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|609

|1,349

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2,140

|0.94%

|2.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.30%

|-

|Total

|64,151

|67,295

|style='background: #ffffe6; |64,727

|100.00%

|100.00%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%

|}

55.3% of residents lived in urban areas, while 44.7% lived in rural areas.

There were 26,386 households in the county, of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 45.7% were married-couple households, 19.5% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 26.4% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 30.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

There were 24,915 households, out of which 27.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.80% were married couples living together, 8.70% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.50% were non-families. 26.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.90. has designated Columbia County as the Bloomsburg-Berwick, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). As of the 2010 census the metropolitan area ranked 20th most populous in the State of Pennsylvania and the 368th most populous in the United States with a population of 82,562. Columbia County is also a part of the larger Bloomsburg-Berwick-Sunbury, PA Combined Statistical Area (CSA), which combines the populations of Columbia County as well as Montour, Northumberland, Snyder and Union Counties in Pennsylvania. The Combined Statistical Area ranked 8th in the State of Pennsylvania and 115th most populous in the United States with a population of 264,739.

Politics and government

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Voter registration

As of February 6, 2024, there were 39,054 registered voters in Columbia County.

  • Republican: 20,820 (53.31%)
  • Democratic: 12,268 (31.41%)
  • Independent: 4,360 (11.16%)
  • Third Party: 1,606 (4.11%)

While the county registration tends to be evenly matched between Democrats and Republicans, the county trends Republican in statewide elections. Donald Trump carried the county by more than 30 points in both 2016 and 2020. While John McCain received 51.6% of its vote to 47.1% for Barack Obama, this was a far-closer margin than the 20 points that George W. Bush carried it by in 2004. Each of the three row-office statewide winners carried Columbia in 2008. In 2006, Democrat Bob Casey Jr. received 51% of its vote when he unseated incumbent Republican US Senator Rick Santorum and Ed Rendell received 50.6% of the vote against Lynn Swann.

For many years Columbia County was represented in the State House by a conservative Democrat in the 109th district until John Gordner changed parties to Republican in 2001. He was elected to the State Senate in 2003 and succeeded by Republican David R. Millard. Columbia is in the 27th Senate district and 11th Congressional district.

County commissioners

{|class="wikitable"

|-

! Commissioners !! Party

|-

|David Kovach || Democratic

|-

|Rich Ridgway || Republican

|-

|Chris Young || Republican

|}

Other county officials

{|class="wikitable"

|-

!Office !! Official !! Party

|-

|Chief Judge || Thomas A. James || Democratic

|-

|Judge || Gary Norton || Republican

|-

|Chief Clerk || Gail Kipp || Democratic

|-

|Coroner || Jeremy Reese || Republican

|-

|Recorder of Deeds and Register of Wills || Beverly Michael || Democratic

|-

|Sheriff || Tim Chamberlain || Democratic

|-

|Treasurer || Shirley Turner || Republican

|-

|Clerk of Courts and Prothonotary || Tami B. Kline || Republican

|}

State senate

{|class="wikitable"

|-

!District !! Senator !! Party

|-

|27 || Lynda Schlegel Culver || Republican

|}

State House of Representatives

{|class="wikitable"

|-

!District !! Representative !! Party

|-

|109 || Robert Leadbeter || Republican

|}

United States House of Representatives

{|class="wikitable"

|-

!District !! Representative !! Party

|-

|9 || Dan Meuser || Republican

|}

United States Senate

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Senator !! Party

|-

| Dave McCormick || Republican

|-

| John Fetterman || Democratic

|}

Education

200px|thumb|right|Map of Columbia County, Pennsylvania School Districts

Colleges and universities

  • Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania

Public school districts

School districts include:

  • Benton Area School District
  • Berwick Area School District (also in Luzerne County)
  • Bloomsburg Area School District
  • Central Columbia School District
  • Millville Area School District
  • Mount Carmel Area School District (also in Northumberland County)
  • North Schuylkill School District (also in Schuylkill County)
  • Southern Columbia Area School District (also in Northumberland County)

Technical school

  • Columbia-Montour Area Vocational-Technical School

Charter school

  • SusQ Cyber Charter School - Bloomsburg

Private schools

  • Bald Hill School - Millville
  • Bloomsburg Christian School - Bloomsburg
  • Bloomsburg University Special Education Institute
  • Columbia Co Christian School - Bloomsburg
  • Greenwood Friends School - Millville
  • Heritage Christian Academy - Berwick
  • Holy Family Consolidate - Berwick
  • Keystone National High School - Bloomsburg
  • New Story - Berwick
  • Pennsylvania Institute For Conservation Education - Bloomsburg
  • Rainbow Hill School - Benton
  • St Columba School - Bloomsburg
  • Saint Matthews - Bloomsburg
  • Turkey Ridge School - Bloomsburg

Libraries

  • Bloomsburg Public Library
  • Columbia County Traveling Library
  • McBride Memorial Library
  • Orangeville Public Library

Communities

right|thumb|200px|Map of Columbia County, Pennsylvania with Municipal Labels showing Towns and Boroughs (red), Townships (white), and Census-designated places (blue).

Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities: cities, boroughs, townships, and, in at most two cases, towns. The following town, boroughs and townships are located in Columbia County:

Town

  • Bloomsburg (county seat)

Boroughs

  • Ashland (mostly in Schuylkill County)
  • Benton
  • Berwick
  • Briar Creek
  • Catawissa
  • Centralia
  • Millville
  • Orangeville
  • Stillwater

Townships

  • Beaver
  • Benton
  • Briar Creek
  • Catawissa
  • Cleveland
  • Conyngham
  • Fishing Creek
  • Franklin
  • Greenwood
  • Hemlock
  • Jackson
  • Locust
  • Madison
  • Main
  • Mifflin
  • Montour
  • Mount Pleasant
  • North Centre
  • Orange
  • Pine
  • Roaring Creek
  • Scott
  • South Centre
  • Sugarloaf

Census-designated places

Census-designated places are geographical areas designated by the U.S. Census Bureau for the purposes of compiling demographic data. They are not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law. Other unincorporated communities, such as villages, may be listed here as well.

  • Almedia
  • Aristes
  • Buckhorn
  • Espy
  • Eyers Grove
  • Fernville
  • Foundryville
  • Iola
  • Jamison City
  • Jerseytown
  • Jonestown
  • Lightstreet
  • Lime Ridge
  • Locustdale (partially in Schuylkill County)
  • Mainville
  • Mifflinville
  • Numidia
  • Rohrsburg
  • Rupert
  • Slabtown
  • Waller
  • Wilburton Number One
  • Wilburton Number Two

Unincorporated communities

  • Central
  • Elk Grove
  • Mifflin Cross Roads

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Columbia County.