331,379 people (2024 Census estimate, +1.9% since 2020)
890 square miles of land · 372 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.
74 active community water systems list Luzerne County in the area they serve, reporting 272,178 people served in all (a system that crosses county lines counts its whole population).
| PAW CEASETOWN surface water · private · PA2409002 | 58,467 served |
| PAW NESBITT surface water · private · PA2409010 | 52,640 served |
| PAW WATRES surface water · private · PA2409011 | 52,002 served |
| HCA HAZLETON DIVISION surface water · local government · PA2408001 | 45,000 served |
| PAW HUNTSVILLE surface water · private · PA2409013 | 11,987 served |
| PAW CRYSTAL LAKE surface water · private · PA2409003 | 9,773 served |
| VEOLIA WATER PA DALLAS groundwater · private · PA2400076 | 7,563 served |
| FREELAND BORO MUNI WATER AUTH groundwater · local government · PA2400054 | 4,610 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 412 people were held in Luzerne County's jail, in Vera's latest figure (2023), or 200 per 100,000 residents ages 15–64. In 2018 it was about 630.
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.
12 school districts have their office in Luzerne County. School taxes are usually the largest part of a property tax bill.
Spent $211.7 million — $173.1 million to run schools, about $14,138 per student, plus $24.8 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $82.8 million local (mostly property tax), $106.5 million state, $41.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $109.7 million.
Spent $152.6 million — $113.9 million to run schools, about $14,570 per student, plus $19.9 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $74.3 million local (mostly property tax), $70.1 million state, $24.2 million federal. Long-term debt: $160.7 million.
Spent $86.8 million — $77.8 million to run schools, about $15,644 per student, plus $524,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $41.4 million local (mostly property tax), $45.5 million state, $13.3 million federal. Long-term debt: $42.4 million.
Spent $62.9 million — $51.2 million to run schools, about $16,524 per student, plus $6.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $35.5 million local (mostly property tax), $24.1 million state, $8.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $14.8 million.
Spent $45.8 million — $42.2 million to run schools, about $14,862 per student, plus $307,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $28.7 million local (mostly property tax), $16.8 million state, $3.4 million federal. Long-term debt: $53.1 million.
Spent $57.5 million — $45.9 million to run schools, about $17,208 per student, plus $7.1 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $23.4 million local (mostly property tax), $28.1 million state, $7.1 million federal. Long-term debt: $32.7 million.
Spent $47.1 million — $42.1 million to run schools, about $17,180 per student, plus $676,000 on buildings and equipment. Money in: $27.6 million local (mostly property tax), $14.9 million state, $2.8 million federal. Long-term debt: $60.1 million.
Spent $38.2 million — $32 million to run schools, about $13,907 per student, plus $1.7 million on buildings and equipment. Money in: $10.9 million local (mostly property tax), $23.4 million state, $6.6 million federal. Long-term debt: $25.7 million.
And 4 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 Luzerne County about $88 million a year on average in buildings, crops and lives. Ability to bounce back (community resilience): Relatively High; social vulnerability: Relatively High.
Source: FEMA National Risk Index (December 2025), expected annual loss. Ratings compare counties nationwide; they're estimates, not predictions.
458 bridges in Luzerne County: 139 in good condition, 216 fair, and 103 poor (22.5%). “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.
| TR309 CROSS VALLEY over TOBY CREEK · built 1963 | 41,421 vehicles a day |
| TR309 CROSS VALLEY over TOBY CREEK · built 1963 | 41,421 vehicles a day |
| SR 0309 TR 309 over TOBYS CREEK · built 1928 | 34,229 vehicles a day |
| SR 0309 TR 309 over RAMP A; SR 8039 · built 1980 | 32,542 vehicles a day |
| SR 0309 TR 309 over TOBY CREEK · built 1941 | 29,878 vehicles a day |
| SR 0309 TR 309 over TOBY CREEK · built 1941 | 29,878 vehicles a day |
Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory (2025 submission). Includes state, county and city bridges.
Federal grants paid for $101.2 million of work in Luzerne County in fiscal 2025, about $311 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 Luzerne 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 Luzerne County built: brayden.ozark@gmail.com.
More of Pennsylvania: the state government and every county in Pennsylvania.
Nearby counties: Carbon County (23 mi) · Columbia County (24 mi) · Wyoming County (24 mi) · Lackawanna County (26 mi) · Sullivan County (33 mi) · Monroe County (35 mi).