Wyoming County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 26,069. Its county seat is Tunkhannock. It was created in 1842 from part of Luzerne County. The county is part of the Northeast Pennsylvania region of the state.

Wyoming County is included in the Scranton—Wilkes-Barre—Hazleton, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.9%) is water. The county is intersected by the North Branch of the Susquehanna River, and drained by Tunkhannock, Mehoopany, and other large creeks. The land surface is generally hilly or mountainous, Mehoopany, Tunkhannock, Knob, and Bowman's mountains occupying a portion. The soil is fertile. Timber, coal, and iron are very abundant.

Climate

The county has a humid continental climate which is warm-summer (Dfb) except along the river starting below Falls where it is hot-summer (Dfa). Average monthly temperatures in Tunkhannock range from 25.2 °F in January to 70.9 °F in July.

thumb|Idle tractor sitting in a field near [[Tunkhannock Viaduct]]

Adjacent counties

  • Susquehanna County (north)
  • Lackawanna County (east)
  • Luzerne County (south)
  • Sullivan County (west)
  • Bradford County (northwest)

Major roads

Demographics

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 26,069. The median age was 45.4 years. 19.2% of residents were under the age of 18 and 21.8% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 100.4 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 99.0 males age 18 and over.

The racial makeup of the county was 93.5% White, 0.9% Black or African American, 0.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.6% from some other race, and 4.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 2.2% of the population.

4.7% of residents lived in urban areas, while 95.3% lived in rural areas.

There were 10,698 households in the county, of which 25.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 49.0% were married-couple households, 19.3% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 23.1% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 28.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

!Pop 2010

!

!% 2000

!% 2010

!

|-

|White alone (NH)

|27,473

|27,270

|style='background: #ffffe6; |24,142

|97.83%

|96.44%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |92.60%

|-

|Black or African American alone (NH)

|137

|185

|style='background: #ffffe6; |214

|0.48%

|0.65%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.82%

|-

|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)

|46

|51

|style='background: #ffffe6; |32

|0.16%

|0.18%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.12%

|-

|Asian alone (NH)

|77

|94

|style='background: #ffffe6; |115

|0.27%

|0.33%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.44%

|-

|Pacific Islander alone (NH)

|2

|3

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3

|0.00%

|0.01%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.01%

|-

|Other race alone (NH)

|12

|7

|style='background: #ffffe6; |40

|0.04%

|0.02%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.15%

|-

|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)

|146

|229

|style='background: #ffffe6; |942

|0.51%

|0.80%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |3.61%

|-

|Hispanic or Latino (any race)

|187

|437

|style='background: #ffffe6; |581

|0.66%

|1.54%

|style='background: #ffffe6; |2.22%

|-

|Total

|28,080

|28,276

|style='background: #ffffe6; |26,069

|100.00%

|100.00%

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

|}

2000 census

As of the 2000 census, there were 28,080 people, 10,762 households, and 7,705 families residing in the county. The population density was . There were 12,713 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 98.28% White, 0.53% Black or African American, 0.27% Asian, 0.17% Native American, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.15% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. 0.67% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 20.3% were of German, 12.9% Irish, 11.9% English, 11.6% Polish, 9.6% American and 8.1% Italian ancestry.

There were 10,762 households, out of which 33.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.10% were married couples living together, 9.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.40% were non-families. 24.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.90% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.02. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.50% under the age of 18, 8.00% from 18 to 24, 28.10% from 25 to 44, 25.20% from 45 to 64, and 13.20% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 98.60 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.80 males.

Politics

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As of May 15, 2023, there were 17,361 registered voters in Wyoming County.

  • Republican: 10,561 (60.83%)
  • Democratic: 4,807 (27.69%)
  • No party affiliation: 1,304 (7.51%)
  • Other parties: 689 (3.97%)

County commissioners

  • Richard Wilbur, Chair, Republican
  • Thomas Henry, Vice-chair, Republican
  • Ernest King, Democrat

Law enforcement

all areas in the county use the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) in a law enforcement capacity, either with part-time police departments or with no other police departments.

Other county offices

  • Auditors:
  • Laura Dickson, Democrat
  • Ashley Ritz Darby, Republican
  • Judy Shupp, Republican
  • District Attorney, Joe Peters, Republican
  • Prothonotary, Cindy Adams, Republican
  • Register of Wills & Recorder of Deeds, Dennis Montross, Republican
  • Sheriff, Robert Roberts, Republican
  • Treasurer, Patricia Mead, Republican

State representative

  • Jamie Walsh, Republican, 117th district

State senator

  • Lisa Baker, Republican, 20th district

United States House of Representatives

  • Dan Meuser, Republican, Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district

United States Senator

  • Dave McCormick, Republican
  • John Fetterman, Democrat

Education

275px|thumb|right|Map of Wyoming County, Pennsylvania School Districts

Public school districts

School districts include:

  • Elk Lake School District (also in Susquehanna County)
  • Lackawanna Trail School District (also in Lackawanna County)
  • Lake-Lehman School District (also in Luzerne County)
  • Tunkhannock Area School District
  • Wyalusing Area School District (also in Bradford County)
  • Wyoming Area School District (also in Luzerne County)

Higher education

  • Keystone College (also in Lackawanna County)

Transportation

Skyhaven Airport is a public use airport located in Wyoming County, one nautical mile (1.85&nbsp;km) south of the central business district of Tunkhannock.

With the town sited on the lower end of the upper third of the Susquehanna, busily wending its way south to the Chesapeake Bay, the river banks to either side the whole length of the Susquehanna were historically used as a rail transport corridor with competing railroads typically making their way on either side on the important NYC and Philadelphia to Buffalo, New York routes connecting the eastern seaboard to cities such as Chicago on the Great Lakes; towns like Tunkhannock played an important role in the highly competitive stakes for such high profit passenger expresses for steam locomotives had surprisingly short cruising ranges and passenger travel had higher earnings than freight. Today, except for select parts, the river bank rail transport infrastructures remaining are mainly left bank located assets of a single railroad's operations department, even shared roads (operated over by several lines) these days use the single corridor along the east/left river bank connecting the large Sayre Yard on the stateline in Sayre, Pennsylvania further upriver to the transitional Duryea yard. After the collapse of Conrail, trackage on the Northern Susquehanna is operated by Norfolk Southern, with some areas sublet to other road companies. The trackage running through Tunkhannock

Pennsylvania Route 29, a continuation of PA-309 from Philadelphia and Allentown, connects to the New York state line providing north–south road connections by secondary highway while PA-92, and especially U.S. Route 6, provide major east–west secondary highway access to the region.

Communities

right|thumb|275px|Map of Wyoming County, Pennsylvania with Municipal Labels showing Boroughs (red) and Townships (white).

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

Boroughs

  • Factoryville
  • Laceyville
  • Meshoppen
  • Nicholson
  • Tunkhannock (county seat)

Townships

  • Braintrim
  • Clinton
  • Eaton
  • Exeter
  • Falls
  • Forkston
  • Lemon
  • Mehoopany
  • Meshoppen
  • Monroe
  • Nicholson
  • North Branch
  • Northmoreland
  • Noxen
  • Overfield
  • Tunkhannock
  • Washington
  • Windham

Census-designated places

  • Lake Winola
  • Noxen
  • West Falls

Unincorporated communities

  • Bellasylva
  • Forkston
  • Kasson Brook

Ghost towns

  • Ricketts

Population ranking

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

† county seat

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

!Rank

!City/Town/etc.

!Municipal type

!Population (2010 Census)

|- style="background-color:#FFF5EE;"

| 1

|† Tunkhannock

| Borough

| 1,836

|- style="background-color:#FFF5EE;"

| 2

| Factoryville

| Borough

| 1,158

|- style="background-color:#FFF5EE;"

| 3

| Nicholson

| Borough

| 767

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 4

| Lake Winola

| CDP

| 748

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 5

| Noxen

| CDP

| 633

|- style="background-color:#FFF5EE;"

| 6

| Meshoppen

| Borough

| 563

|- style="background-color:#F0FFF0;"

| 7

| West Falls

| CDP

| 382

|- style="background-color:#FFF5EE;"

| 8

| Laceyville

| Borough

| 379

|}

See also

  • National Register of Historic Places listings in Wyoming County, Pennsylvania

References

  • Wyoming County official site