County outline
Where Bradford County is located
Area breakdown
Land accounts for 98.8% of Bradford County’s measured area and water for 1.2%. Its combined area converts to 3,007 square kilometers or approximately 743,051 acres.
Green: land · blue: water
| Measurement | Square miles | Square kilometers | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land | 1,147.376 | 2,971.69 | 734,320.6 |
| Water | 13.641 | 35.33 | 8,730.2 |
| Total | 1,161.017 | 3,007.02 | 743,050.9 |
How Bradford County compares
By original Census land area, Bradford County ranks #2 of 67 in Pennsylvania and #539 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Its land area is 1.756 times the Pennsylvania county-equivalent median of 653.3 square miles. It accounts for 2.6% of the combined county land area in the state.
See the complete Pennsylvania ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?
Population and density of Bradford County
The Census Bureau estimates that 59,600 people lived in Bradford County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #907 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #42 of 67 in Pennsylvania. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 59,965, the population has declined by 365 (−0.6%), compared with +0.4% for Pennsylvania as a whole.
With 1,147.4 square miles of land, that is 52 people per square mile (20 per km²), placing Bradford County #1,509 nationally for density and #54 in Pennsylvania. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Pennsylvania median is 137. Put another way, there are about 12 acres of land per resident.
| July 1 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimate | 59,975 | 60,176 | 59,825 | 59,722 | 59,593 | 59,600 |
| Change | — | +201 | −351 | −103 | −129 | +7 |
U.S. Census Bureau, Vintage 2025 population estimates. Estimates are revised each year and are not decennial census counts. Density divides the whole population by the whole county’s land area, so it describes an average, not how settlement is distributed within the county. Population sources and methods.
Cities and towns in Bradford County
Bradford County is divided into 51 municipalities and townships. In Pennsylvania, county subdivisions are local governments, and together they cover all of the county’s land and residents.
The most populous is Sayre borough, with 5,328 residents (8.9% of the county). The largest by land is Overton township, at 46.7 mi², or 4.1% of the county’s land. The county seat, Towanda borough, has 2,746 residents. Among those with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, Canton township grew fastest since then (+5.7%).
| County subdivision | Population 2025 | Since 2020 | Land mi² | Share of county land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sayre borough | 5,328 | −2% | 2.021 | 0.2% |
| Athens township | 5,156 | −1% | 43.6 | 3.8% |
| Athens borough | 3,205 | −1.9% | 1.754 | 0.2% |
| Towanda boroughCounty seat | 2,746 | −1.9% | 1.136 | 0.1% |
| Canton township | 2,075 | +5.7% | 37.1 | 3.2% |
| Ridgebury township | 1,886 | −1.6% | 38.3 | 3.3% |
| Canton borough | 1,682 | −1.5% | 1.152 | 0.1% |
| Troy township | 1,572 | −0.8% | 36.7 | 3.2% |
| Wysox township | 1,545 | −1.2% | 22.7 | 2% |
| Smithfield township | 1,465 | 0% | 41.9 | 3.7% |
| Ulster township | 1,296 | −0.5% | 18.7 | 1.6% |
| Sheshequin township | 1,284 | −1.8% | 35.3 | 3.1% |
| Litchfield township | 1,267 | −0.5% | 30.2 | 2.6% |
| Troy borough | 1,227 | −1.8% | 0.786 | 0.1% |
| Wyalusing township | 1,226 | +4.3% | 27.9 | 2.4% |
Show the other 36 subdivisions
| Name | Population 2025 | Since 2020 | Land mi² |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orwell township | 1,200 | +1.1% | 32.2 |
| Columbia township | 1,161 | −1.8% | 40.9 |
| Wells township | 1,147 | 0% | 33.7 |
| Wilmot township | 1,135 | +0.4% | 43.8 |
| Springfield township | 1,128 | −1.7% | 41.3 |
| South Creek township | 1,106 | −0.7% | 27.9 |
| Monroe township | 1,090 | −1.3% | 36.5 |
| South Waverly borough | 1,089 | +1.4% | 0.878 |
| Tuscarora township | 1,057 | +0.5% | 29 |
| North Towanda township | 1,041 | −1.3% | 8.798 |
| Rome township | 1,027 | +1% | 29.9 |
| Towanda townshipCounty seat | 1,021 | −0.6% | 15.2 |
| Warren township | 1,018 | −0.4% | 42.5 |
| Asylum township | 1,000 | +0.3% | 25.3 |
| Terry township | 890 | −0.9% | 32.6 |
| Granville township | 879 | −0.5% | 24.7 |
| Albany township | 868 | +1% | 32.8 |
| Windham township | 816 | −0.7% | 32.1 |
| Herrick township | 732 | −0.9% | 22.5 |
| West Burlington township | 728 | −1.1% | 23.9 |
| Burlington township | 668 | −0.7% | 25 |
| Pike township | 645 | +2.1% | 27.5 |
| Leroy township | 633 | −0.6% | 44.2 |
| Standing Stone township | 611 | −1.8% | 15.7 |
| Franklin township | 608 | −0.8% | 33.4 |
| Wyalusing borough | 608 | −1.8% | 0.726 |
| Monroe borough | 479 | −0.8% | 0.494 |
| Stevens township | 417 | −0.5% | 15.5 |
| Rome borough | 373 | −1.3% | 0.519 |
| LeRaysville borough | 285 | −1.7% | 1.042 |
| New Albany borough | 250 | −2.7% | 0.437 |
| Overton township | 240 | +0.4% | 46.7 |
| Sylvania borough | 207 | −1.9% | 1.117 |
| Armenia township | 204 | −0.5% | 17.9 |
| Burlington borough | 143 | −2.1% | 0.585 |
| Alba borough | 136 | +0.7% | 0.674 |
Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, counting only the part of each subdivision inside Bradford County. Land: 2026 Census Gazetteer. How communities are listed.
Metropolitan area
Bradford County is a central county of the Sayre, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. Bradford County is the area’s only county equivalent, so the micro area has the same 1,147.4 square miles of land. By combined land it ranks #149 of 542 micropolitan areas, and #168 by population.
ZIP codes
28 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Bradford County; 22 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.
16910169141692516926169361694717724177651861418616186231881018814188171882918830188311883218833188371884018845188461884818850188511885318854
ZIP Code Tabulation Areas are the Census Bureau’s approximations of USPS ZIP Code service areas, from the 2020 Census relationship files. Lighter codes have less than half of their land in this county. Post-office-box and single-address ZIP Codes have no tabulation area.
Counties bordering Bradford County
Bradford County shares a land border with 7 county equivalents, including 2 in New York. It has more land than 6 of them. The largest neighbor is Lycoming County (1,228.9 mi²) and the smallest is Wyoming County (397.3 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Bradford County forms a block of 6,107 mi² of land, of which it holds 18.8%.
| Bordering county equivalent | Land mi² | Size vs. Bradford | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lycoming County | 1,228.9 | 1.1× larger | Compare |
| Tioga County | 1,133.9 | about the same | Compare |
| Susquehanna County | 823.5 | 1.4× smaller | Compare |
| Tioga CountyNew York | 518.8 | 2.2× smaller | Compare |
| Sullivan County | 449.9 | 2.6× smaller | Compare |
| Chemung CountyNew York | 407.3 | 2.8× smaller | Compare |
| Wyoming County | 397.3 | 2.9× smaller | Compare |
How big is Bradford County compared with U.S. states?
Bradford County has more land than 1 of the 50 states. It is about 1.1 times the land area of Rhode Island (1,033.9 mi²), while Delaware, the next larger state, has 1.7 times as much land (1,948.6 mi²). Pennsylvania’s county land could hold about 39 areas the size of Bradford County.
Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 33.9 miles (54.5 km) on each side. Real county shapes are rarely square, so this is a scale reference rather than a width or driving distance.
State figures are the sums of each state’s county-equivalent land measurements in the same Census release, so states and counties are compared on the same basis. Published state totals can differ slightly because of rounding. Compare all states · Counties bigger than entire states.
What stands out about Bradford County?
Bradford County has more land than 2,683 of the other 3,221 county equivalents in the dataset.
A median is the middle county-equivalent measurement, not the average of the largest and smallest. All three bars use the same linear scale. Very small areas may appear as a thin sliver; the labels retain their values.
Does including water change its rank?
Using land plus water places Bradford County at #612 nationally by total area, 73 places farther from the top than its land rank. Other county equivalents gain more area when their water measurements are included.
Its water share is 1.2%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2%. The two percentages are within 0.1 percentage points of each other. This describes the statistical geography’s land/water mix, not flood exposure or developable land.
Closest positions in the national land ranking
These entries sit immediately beside Bradford County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.
| Land rank | County equivalent | Land mi² | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| #538 | Grant County, Wisconsin | 1,147.6 | Compare |
| #539 | Bradford County, Pennsylvania | 1,147.4 | This county |
| #540 | LaMoure County, North Dakota | 1,146 | Compare |
Calculated from the same Census release as the area table. Total-area order uses original ALAND + AWATER; water shares and chart labels use published square miles. Calculation details.
Representative coordinates
The Census internal point is 41.791504, -76.502123. It represents a location inside the geography; it is not necessarily the centroid or the address of a courthouse.
Source and precision
U.S. Census Bureau, 2026 Gazetteer Files, Counties. Original ALAND: 2,971,688,842 m²; AWATER: 35,331,261 m². Rankings use ALAND; exact ties use ascending GEOID. Tables preserve Census-published square miles to three decimals, with conversions based on those values.
Common questions
How big is Bradford County?
Bradford County, Pennsylvania has 1,147.4 square miles (2,971.7 km²) of land and 13.6 square miles of water, for a total area of 1,161 square miles. It ranks #539 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.
Is Bradford County the largest county in Pennsylvania?
No. Bradford County ranks #2 of 67 in Pennsylvania by land area. The largest is Lycoming County, with 1,228.9 square miles of land.
What counties border Bradford County?
Bradford County shares a land border with Sullivan County, Tioga County, Susquehanna County, Tioga County, New York, Chemung County, New York, Wyoming County, and Lycoming County.
What is the population of Bradford County?
The Census Bureau estimates Bradford County had 59,600 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #907 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 52 people per square mile of land.
What is the county seat of Bradford County?
The county seat of Bradford County is Towanda.
What cities and towns are in Bradford County?
Bradford County has 51 county subdivisions (cities, towns and townships). The most populous five are Sayre borough, Athens township, Athens borough, Towanda borough, and Canton township.
Is Bradford County part of a metropolitan area?
Yes. It is a central county of the Sayre, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area.
How many ZIP codes are in Bradford County?
28 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Bradford County, and 22 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.
How does Bradford County compare with U.S. states?
It has more land than 1 of the 50 states, including Rhode Island (1,033.9 square miles of land).
How many acres of land are in Bradford County?
The land measurement converts to approximately 734,321 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 743,051 acres. One square mile equals 640 acres.
Why might another source show a different area?
Check whether it reports land or total area, its Census vintage, and its rounding. Our guide explains how to reconcile county area figures.
Can this establish a property boundary?
No. Statistical measurements and generalized maps do not establish property lines. Consult the relevant local surveying or land-records authority.