216,859 people (2024 Census estimate, +0.6% since 2020)
459 square miles of land · 473 people per square mile
“Highest” and “lowest” are just order, not grades: a high rank for poverty or hazard losses means more of it. Each figure's source is in its section below.
33 active community water systems list Lackawanna County in the area they serve, reporting 159,803 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| PA AMER WATER CO LAKE SCRANTON surface water · private · PA2359008 | 137,142 served |
| PA AMER WATER CO BROWNELL surface water · private · PA2359001 | 12,560 served |
| PA AMER WATER CO FALLBROOK surface water · private · PA2359006 | 2,851 served |
| AQUA PA WATER CO CHINCHILLA groundwater · private · PA2350004 | 904 served |
| AQUA PA WATER CO MOSCOW groundwater · private · PA2350027 | 600 served |
| CLARKS SUMMIT STATE HOSPITAL groundwater · state · PA2350028 | 576 served |
| AQUA PA JEFFERSON HEIGHTS groundwater · private · PA2350057 | 556 served |
| AQUA PA WATER CO THORNHURST CC groundwater · private · PA2350053 | 500 served |
Source: U.S. EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS), active community systems, . Look up any system's violations and test results with EPA's search using its ID.
About 807 people were held in Lackawanna County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2024), or 598 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2019 it was about 625.
Source: Vera Institute of Justice, Incarceration Trends (built from federal Bureau of Justice Statistics jail surveys). Counties without their own jail, or that share one, may show no figure.
9 school districts have their office in Lackawanna County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $217.3 million — $175.7 million to run schools, about $18,973 per student, plus $27.3 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $72.5 million local (mostly property tax), $112.2 million state, $32.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $196.2 million.
Spent $55 million — $53.4 million to run schools, about $15,367 per student, plus $463,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $37 million local (mostly property tax), $17.2 million state, $3.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $2.4 million.
Spent $62.3 million — $58.7 million to run schools, about $20,439 per student, plus $653,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $38.9 million local (mostly property tax), $22.1 million state, $2.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $51.7 million.
Spent $44.1 million — $40.3 million to run schools, about $16,882 per student, plus $1.4 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $21.7 million local (mostly property tax), $18.1 million state, $3.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $25.2 million.
Spent $39.9 million — $31 million to run schools, about $16,494 per student, plus $6.6 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $21.5 million local (mostly property tax), $12.2 million state, $3.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $22.5 million.
Spent $32.6 million — $27.5 million to run schools, about $17,704 per student, plus $2.2 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $9.9 million local (mostly property tax), $18.4 million state, $8.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $16.5 million.
Spent $29.9 million — $27.3 million to run schools, about $17,626 per student, plus $605,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $17.7 million local (mostly property tax), $12.1 million state, $3.5 million federal. Long-term debt: $14.6 million.
Spent $27.9 million — $25.9 million to run schools, about $18,814 per student, plus $65,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $13.6 million local (mostly property tax), $11.6 million state, $2 million federal. Long-term debt: $9.4 million.
And 1 more.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2023 Annual Survey of School System Finances. Districts are listed by the county of their main office; some serve neighboring counties too.
Source: County Health Rankings & Roadmaps 2025 (University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute), which gathers federal data (CDC, Census, and others); measures cover different recent years. Blank lines aren't reported for small counties.
Overall risk: Relatively Moderate compared with other U.S. counties. FEMA estimates natural hazards cost Lackawanna County about $72.4 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Very High; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
361 bridges in Lackawanna County: 137 in good condition, 170 fair, and 54 poor (15.0%). “Poor” means a main part — the deck, the beams, or the supports — is rated 4 or lower on the federal 0–9 scale. It doesn't mean unsafe to drive; unsafe bridges are closed.
| US 0011 over SR 3013 NORTH MAIN AVE · built 1963 | 20,572 vehicles a day |
| SR 0011 TR 11 over SR 6307 KEYSER AVE · built 1963 | 20,572 vehicles a day |
| SR 8015 I-81 RAMP over SR 0081 I-81 · built 1961 | 13,171 vehicles a day |
| ELM STREET over LACKAWANNA RIVER · built 1958 | 11,900 vehicles a day |
| NORTH MAIN AVENUE over LEGGETTS CREEK · built 1900 | 10,771 vehicles a day |
| W. LACKAWANNA AVE. over NSRR / DLRR · built 1972 | 10,700 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $128.4 million of work in Lackawanna County in fiscal 2025, about $595 per resident — to the county, cities, schools, hospitals, nonprofits and others.
Source: USAspending.gov, grants by place of performance, fiscal 2025 (Oct. 2024 to Sept. 2025). Search it by county to see each award.
From Grants.gov: posted grants listing county governments as eligible, soonest deadline first; research-only and overseas programs left out; list updated 2026-10-13, refreshed weekly. 62 are open in all. Cities, towns, school districts and nonprofits have their own lists there.
Registration deadlines, early voting and polling places for Pennsylvania are on the federal site vote.gov, which links to the state's official election office.
The budget, property tax rates, audits, local officials and offices for Lackawanna County come from the county's own records, which we haven't gathered — not gathered, never hidden. See what a full county site looks like, or ask to have Lackawanna County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Pennsylvania: the state government and every county in Pennsylvania.
Nearby counties: Wyoming County (22 mi) · Wayne County (22 mi) · Luzerne County (26 mi) · Susquehanna County (28 mi) · Monroe County (30 mi) · Pike County (31 mi).