Monroe County Information Thread (Scranton, Bethlehem: transplants, home, school districts)

[ScranBarre]

Since MollyMe's Pocono thread has become so popular but also so long I thought it might be an appropriate time to initiate a new thread regarding the second-fastest-growing county in Pennsylvania. Monroe County sits southeast of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre via I-380 or Route 115 to Scranton or Wilkes-Barre respectively and is generally 90 minutes to 2 hours west of New York City via I-80. The county is bordered by Pike County (Milford) and Wayne County (Honesdale) to the north, Lackawanna County (Scranton) to the northwest, Luzerne County (Wilkes-Barre) to the west, Carbon County (Jim Thorpe) to the southwest, Northampton County (Bethlehem/Easton) to the south, and the state of New Jersey to the east, separated by the Delaware River.

Here is a municipal map of the county:



As you can see there are sixteen townships and four boroughs in the county for a total of twenty municipalities. Within some of these townships are "village" concentration centers. A few notable ones include:

Analomink, Bartonsville, Blakeslee, Brodheadsville, Canadensis, Cresco, Effort, Gilbert, Henryville, Kresgeville, Long Pond, Marshalls Creek, Mountainhome, Pocono Lake, Pocono Pines, Pocono Summit, Reeders, Resica Falls, Saylorsburg, Sciota, Scotrun, Shawnee, Skytop, Snydersville, Swiftwater, Tannersville, and Tobyhanna, amongst a few others.

Some major planned communities within these villages, which lie within these townships, include:

A Pocono Country Place, Arrowhead Lakes, Buck Hill Falls, Camelot Forest, Crescent Lake, Echo Lake, El-Do Lake, Indian Mountain Lake, Lake Naomi Estates, Locust Lakes Village, Pocono Farms, Pocono Heights, Pocono Lake Preserve, Pocono Laurel Lake, Pocono Summit Estates, Robin Hood Lakes, Stillwater Lake Estates, The Reserve at Blue Mountain, and Wigwam Lake Estates, amongst many others.

Here is a map for the four school districts in the county:



Here are some basic demographics of each of the school districts:

East Stroudsburg Area:

*It should be noted that this school district has a "North" campus and a "South" campus.

Overall Population: 45,790
Student Enrollment: 7,712
Median Hosehold Income (2000): $46,140
Median Home Value (2000): $121,333


Pleasant Valley:

Overall Population: 34,947
Student Enrollment: 6,919
Median Household Income (2000): $46,619
Median Home Value (2000): $124,925

Pocono Mountain:

*It should be noted that this district is split into a "West" campus and an "East" campus.

Overall Population: 61,078
Student Enrollment: 11,208
Median Household Income (2000): $45,369
Median Home Value (2000): $122,650

Stroudsburg Area:

Overall Population: 34,233
Student Enrollment: 5,526
Median Household Income (2000): $42,718
Median Home Value (2000): $127,550

[ScranBarre]

Being a statistics nut I decided to do the following rankings:

SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Overall Populations
1.) Pocono Mountain: 61,078
2.) East Stroudsburg Area: 45,790
3.) Pleasant Valley: 34,947
4.) Stroudsburg Area: 34,233

Student Enrollments
1.) Pocono Mountain: 11,208
2.) East Stroudsburg Area: 7,712
3.) Pleasant Valley: 6,919
4.) Stroudsburg Area: 5,526

Median Household Incomes
1.) Pleasant Valley: $46,619
2.) East Stroudsburg Area: $46,140
3.) Pocono Mountain: $45,369
4.) Stroudsburg Area: $42,718

Median Home Values
1.) Stroudsburg Area: $127,550
2.) Pleasant Valley: $124,925
3.) Pocono Mountain: $122,650
4.) East Stroudsburg Area: $121,333

MUNICIPALITIES

Overall Populations
1.)Coolbaugh Township: 18,200
2.) Stroud Township: 17,643
3.) Chestnuthill Township: 17,516
4.) Middle Smithfield Township: 14,551
5.) Pocono Township: 11,229
6.) East Stroudsburg: 10,476
7.) Hamilton Township: 9,420
8.) Polk Township: 7,823
9.) Jackson Township: 7,441
10.) Tobyhanna Township: 7,335
11.) Smithfield Township: 6,995
12.) Ross Township: 6,553
13.) Stroudsburg: 6,350
14.) Tunkhannock Township: 6,316
15.) Barrett Township: 4,322
16.) Price Township: 3,405
17.) Paradise Township: 3,234
18.) Eldred Township: 3,055
19.) Mount Pocono Borough: 3,001
20.) Delaware Water Gap: 820


Median Household Incomes
1.) Stroud Township: $53,428
2.) Jackson Township: $52,327
3.) Smithfield Township: $51,607
4.) Middle Smithfield Township: $50,435
5.) Price Township: $50,213
6.) Chestnuthill Township: $50,210
7.) Ross Township: $48,750
8.) Paradise Township: $48,320
9.) Hamilton Township: $47,327
10.) Coolbaugh Township: $46,684
11.) Pocono Township: $46,107
12.) Polk Township: $45,016
13.) Barrett Township: $43,634
14.) Tobyhanna Township: $43,211
15.) Eldred Township: $42,500
16.) Tunkhannock Township: $42,448
17.) Mount Pocono: $40,224
18.) Delaware Water Gap: $37,708
19.) East Stroudsburg: $36,601
20.) Stroudsburg: $32,409

Median Home Values

1.) Jackson Township: $143,400
2.) Smithfield Township: $140,400
3.) Hamilton Township: $139,600
4.) Pocono Township: $137,700
5.) Stroud Township: $136,600
6.) Paradise Township: $134,300
7.) Ross Township: $133,700
8.) Chestnuthill Township: $133,400
9.) Mount Pocono: $126,900
10.) Middle Smithfield Township: $124,500
11.) Delaware Water Gap: $117,700
12.) Polk Township: $117,400
13.) Stroudsburg: $116,300
14.) East Stroudsburg: $115,800
15.) Eldred Township: $115,200
16.) Tobyhanna Township: $113,700
17.) Tunkhannock Township: $113,300
18.) Barrett Township: $112,000
19.) Price Township: $111,600
20.) Coolbaugh Township: $99,900

[ScranBarre]

Here is a breakdown of most of the villages in each Monroe County township:

Barrett Township
Buck Hill Falls
Canadensis
Cresco
Mountainhome
Skytop

Chestnuthill Township
Brodheadsville
Effort
Gilbert
McMichaels

Coolbaugh Township
Tobyhanna

Eldred Township
Kunkletown

Hamilton Township
Sciota
Snydersville

Jackson Township
Reeders

Middle Smithfield Township
Coolbaugh
Pocono Heights
Resica Falls

Pocono Township
Scotrun
Swiftwater
Tannersville

Polk Township
Kresgeville
Jonas

Ross Township
Saylorsburg

Smithfield Township
Marshalls Creek

Stroud Township
Analomink
Bartonsville

Tobyhanna Township
Blakeslee
Pocono Lake
Pocono Pines
Pocono Summit

Tunkhannock Township
Long Pond

[Chefkey]

SWB, You have to take a job working with the local government. It is in your blood.

They will love you to death and the benefits I guess would be nice as it would be a government position.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by Chefkey

SWB, You have to take a job working with the local government. It is in your blood.

They will love you to death and the benefits I guess would be nice as it would be a government position.

Thanks. The way I see it MollyMe's thread is good to ask a question and get some answers, and I'm hoping to continue updating this thread with more relevant information for those who wish to research it themselves. I'd like to do threads for Lackawanna and Luzerne Counties as well, but there isn't enough relocation interest in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (yet). Once the commuter rail comes to the area SWB is going to explode with transplants seeking inexpensive housing. Those housing values in Monroe County are extremely misleading, as the latest information I could find was eight years old. Median housing values in some of those townships are probably in the $200,000 range now.

[ScranBarre]

I also think it's important to note that Stroudsburg, the "town center" of the county is only the 13th-largest municipality out of the 20 in the county and has the worst issues with crime, even though it only has 6,350 inhabitants. It's mind-boggling to think that once-rural Coolbaugh Township is now nearing 20,000 residents and that the Pocono Mountain School District's enrollment is now larger than the city of Scranton's!

[Chefkey]

I just drove through Coolbaugh today and wished I lived there LOL.

I laugh because my wife will never move too far from the City. You want to stay in the city area and I guess I am too.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by Chefkey

I just drove through Coolbaugh today and wished I lived there LOL.

I laugh because my wife will never move too far from the City. You want to stay in the city area and I guess I am too.

I noticed that you changed your profile location to "Pocono Mountains." Getting the "itch" for the country, are we?

[Chefkey]

I have been posting nationally so I thought it prudent to add a location. I figured the Pocono Mountains to be very recognizable in a positive way for our area.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by Chefkey

I have been posting nationally so I thought it prudent to add a location. I figured the Pocono Mountains to be very recognizable in a positive way for our area.

Good idea. I listed "Metro Scranton" to get people to think we're larger than we really are! LOL!