Have you ever wondered how many people are crammed into Scranton in Pennsylvania? Here is the answer:
Scranton, Pennsylvania has a population density of 1150.42 inhabitants per square kilometer (2979.21 / sq mi)
That means the whole population of 76,089 people are living within an area of 66.14 sq km (25.54 sq mi).
As a reference: New York City has a population density of 6918 inhabitants per square kilometer (17918 / sq mi), thanks to it’s population of 8,398,748 inhabitants within an area of 1214 sq km (468.73 sq mi).
Scranton is the sixth-largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the county seat and largest city of Lackawanna County in Northeastern Pennsylvania’s Wyoming Valley and hosts a federal court building for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. With a population of 76,089, it is the largest city in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has a population of about 570,000. The city is conventionally divided into 8 districts: North Scranton, Southside, Westside, the Hill Section, Central City, Minooka, East Mountain, and Green Ridge, though these areas do not have legal status.Scranton is the geographic and cultural center of the Lackawanna River valley and Northeastern Pennsylvania, and the largest of the former anthracite coal mining communities in a contiguous quilt-work that also includes Wilkes-Barre, Nanticoke, Pittston, and Carbondale. Scranton was incorporated on February 14, 1856, as a borough in Luzerne County and as a city on April 23, 1866. It became a major industrial city, a center of mining and railroads, and attracted thousands of new immigrants. It was the site of the Scranton General Strike in 1877.People in northern Luzerne County sought a new county in 1839 but the Wilkes-Barre area resisted losing its assets. Lackawanna County did not gain independent status until 1878. Under legislation allowing the issue to be voted by residents of the proposed territory, voters favored the new county by a proportion of 6 to 1, with Scranton residents providing the major support. The city was designated as the county seat when Lackawanna County was established in 1878, and a judicial district was authorized in July 1879.The city’s nickname “Electric City” began when electric lights were introduced in 1880 at the Dickson Manufacturing Company. Six years later, the United States’s first streetcars powered only by electricity began operating in the city. Rev. David Spencer, a local Baptist minister, later proclaimed Scranton as the “Electric City”.The city’s industrial production and population peaked in the 1930s and 1940s, fueled by demand for coal and textiles, especially during World War II. But while the national economy boomed after the war, demand for the region’s coal declined as other forms of energy became more popular, which also harmed the rail industry. Foreseeing the decline, city leaders formulated the Scranton Plan in 1945 to diversify the local economy beyond coal, but the city’s economy continued to decline. The Knox Mine disaster of 1959 essentially ended coal mining in the region. Scranton’s population dropped from its peak of 143,000 in 1930 census to 88,000 in the 1980 census. The city’s economy and population stabilized in the 1980s and 1990s. The city now has large health care and manufacturing sectors.
Cities with a similar population density as Scranton
Other cities that have a similar population density as Scranton, Pennsylvania are:
- Urbana, Illinois with a population density of 1,400 people per sq km (3,628 / sq mi).
- Colton, California with a population density of 1,255 people per sq km (3,252 / sq mi).
- St. Albans, West Virginia with a population density of 1,155 people per sq km (2,993 / sq mi).
- Hanford, California with a population density of 1,240 people per sq km (3,212 / sq mi).
- Pharr, Texas with a population density of 1,153 people per sq km (2,986 / sq mi).
- Monroe, Washington with a population density of 1,094 people per sq km (2,832 / sq mi).
- Richardson, Texas with a population density of 1,337 people per sq km (3,462 / sq mi).
- Grand Terrace, California with a population density of 1,327 people per sq km (3,440 / sq mi).
- Amsterdam, New York with a population density of 1,149 people per sq km (2,974 / sq mi).
- Killeen, Texas with a population density of 984 people per sq km (2,549 / sq mi).
Cities with a similar population size as Scranton
Here a list of cities that have a similar number of inhabitants like Scranton, Pennsylvania:
- Miami Beach, Florida with a population of 91,917 people
- Pawtucket, Rhode Island with a population of 71,148 people
- Yuma, Arizona with a population of 93,064 people
- Lee’s Summit, Missouri with a population of 91,364 people
- Rochester Hills, Michigan with a population of 70,995 people
- Chino Hills, California with a population of 74,799 people
- Johns Creek, Georgia with a population of 76,728 people
- Hesperia, California with a population of 90,173 people
- Walnut Creek, California with a population of 64,173 people
- Vacaville, California with a population of 92,428 people
Cities with a similar size as Scranton
If you want to check which cities have a similar size as Scranton, Pennsylvania, here you go:
- Wilson, North Carolina with 81.45 square kilometers (81.45 sq mi), population: 50,652
- Pasadena, California with 59.90 square kilometers (59.90 sq mi), population: 137,122
- Brighton, Colorado with 55.55 square kilometers (55.55 sq mi), population: 33,352
- Portage, Indiana with 71.51 square kilometers (71.51 sq mi), population: 36,828
- Ridgecrest, California with 55.76 square kilometers (55.76 sq mi), population: 27,616
- Milford, Connecticut with 65.09 square kilometers (65.09 sq mi), population: 52,759
- Hobart, Indiana with 68.89 square kilometers (68.89 sq mi), population: 29,059
- Streetsboro, Ohio with 63.10 square kilometers (63.10 sq mi), population: 16,028
- La Vergne, Tennessee with 65.49 square kilometers (65.49 sq mi), population: 18,687
- Sunnyvale, California with 58.75 square kilometers (58.75 sq mi), population: 140,081