2006 Census Data for NEPA (Allentown, Scranton: 2010, rent, college)

[ScranBarre]

The 2006 Census data has just been released, and here are the results for Northeastern & North Central Pennsylvania:

Bradford County (Towanda): Pop. 2000: 62,761
Pop. 2006: 62,471
Change: -290

Carbon County (Jim Thorpe/Lehighton): Pop. 2000: 58,802
Pop. 2006: 62,567
Change: +3,765

Centre County (State College): Pop. 2000: 135,758
Pop. 2006: 140,953
Change: +5,195

Clinton County (Lock Haven): Pop. 2000: 37,914
Pop. 2006: 37,232
Change: -682

Columbia County (Bloomsburg/Berwick): Pop. 2000: 64,151
Pop. 2006: 65,014
Change: +863

Lackawanna County (Scranton): Pop. 2000: 213,295
Pop. 2006: 209,728
Change: -3,567

Lehigh County (Allentown): Pop. 2000: 312,090
Pop. 2006: 335,544
Change: +23,454

Luzerne County (Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton): Pop. 2000: 319,250
Pop. 2006: 313,020
Change: -6,230

Lycoming County (Williamsport): Pop. 2000: 120,044
Pop. 2006: 117,668
Change: -2,376

Monroe County (Stroudsburg/Mt. Pocono): Pop. 2000: 138,687
Pop. 2006: 165,685
Change: +26,998

Montour County (Danville): Pop. 2000: 18,236
Pop. 2006: 17,934
Change: -302

Northampton County (Bethlehem/Easton): Pop. 2000: 267,066
Pop. 2006: 291,306
Change: +24,240

Northumberland County (Sunbury): Pop. 2000: 94,556
Pop. 2006: 91,654
Change: -2,902

Pike County (Milford): Pop. 2000: 46,302
Pop. 2006: 58,195
Change: +11,893

Schuylkill County (Pottsville): Pop. 2000: 150,336
Pop. 2006: 147,405
Change: -2,931

Snyder County (Selinsgrove): Pop. 2000: 37,546
Pop. 2006: 38,226
Change: +680

Sullivan County (Eagles Mere/Laporte): Pop. 2000: 6,556
Pop. 2006: 6,277
Change: -279

Susquehanna County (Montrose): Pop. 2000: 42,238
Pop. 2006: 41,889
Change: -349

Tioga County (Wellsboro/Mansfield): Pop. 2000: 41,373
Pop. 2006: 41,137
Change: -236

Union County (Lewisburg): Pop. 2000: 41,624
Pop. 2006: 43,387
Change: +1,763

Wayne County (Honesdale/Hawley): Pop. 2000: 47,722
Pop. 2006: 50,929
Change: +3,207

Wyoming County (Tunkhannock): Pop. 2000: 28,080
Pop. 2006: 28,093
Change: +13

REGION TOTALS: Pop. 2000: 2,284,387
Pop. 2006: 2,366,314
Change: +81,927

[SARGGON]

Looks like Pike county is growing very quickly! They seemed to have the most growth considering its still got lots of room for more growth.

[ScranBarre]

Originally Posted by SARGGON

Looks like Pike county is growing very quickly! They seemed to have the most growth considering its still got lots of room for more growth.

Yep. Pike County grew by 25.7% in just six years, or at the rate of about 4.3% per year. It appears as if it is once again the fastest-growing county out of the 67 in PA. I simply hope that elected officials in Pike County manage this growth better than their counterparts in Monroe County. It should also be noted that while Luzerne and Lackawanna Counties appeared to decline over the past six years, Luzerne County grew in 2005 and 2006, and Lackawanna County grew in 2006 as well. If that trend continues, both counties might show a gain by the next official U.S. Census in 2010 over the 2000 Census.

[Baltic_Celt]

MA has had an equal amount of people leave each year as enter. In the 10K range. I believe that last year was the first time there was a very slight increase in population in many years. Interesting that people often leave NEPA & other smaller towns for better financial opportunities & may or may find that the grass is greener. Sometimes, people move to Boston for jobs, or remain after college, but don't factor in the astronomical rent or housing costs, high food costs (either market or restaurant), high taxes, high utilities & amount of time out of their lives they loose each day during a miserable commute.

I snicker at the "average commute" figures, as they're not accurate for a city dweller. If you live in the inner city, like me, it's an hour minimum, if you're lucky, whether walking, train, bus or car, to go only several miles. In rush hour traffic, I can commute from Brighton (1 town over from Boston) to my section of Boston via car (a 7.5-mi treck) in 1.5-hrs if there are no delays, accidents or detours, which are common when driving around Big Dig territory. I can only do that commute while driving like Mario Andretti, weaving & bobing in & out of lanes.

Geesh, NEPA is more appealing day by day to me. SWB, call that ice cream dairy & tell them to hold a banana split for me. I'll be there shortly... VV