County outline
Where Carbon County is located
Area breakdown
Land accounts for 98.4% of Carbon County’s measured area and water for 1.6%. Its combined area converts to 1,003.6 square kilometers or approximately 248,001 acres.
Green: land · blue: water
| Measurement | Square miles | Square kilometers | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land | 381.356 | 987.708 | 244,067.8 |
| Water | 6.146 | 15.918 | 3,933.4 |
| Total | 387.502 | 1,003.626 | 248,001.3 |
How Carbon County compares
By original Census land area, Carbon County ranks #58 of 67 in Pennsylvania and #2595 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Its land area is 0.584 times the Pennsylvania county-equivalent median of 653.3 square miles. It accounts for 0.9% of the combined county land area in the state.
See the complete Pennsylvania ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?
Population and density of Carbon County
The Census Bureau estimates that 65,868 people lived in Carbon County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #848 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #39 of 67 in Pennsylvania. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 64,761, the population has grown by 1,107 (+1.7%), compared with +0.4% for Pennsylvania as a whole.
With 381.4 square miles of land, that is 173 people per square mile (67 per km²), placing Carbon County #698 nationally for density and #30 in Pennsylvania. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Pennsylvania median is 137. Put another way, there are about 3.7 acres of land per resident.
| July 1 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimate | 64,765 | 65,558 | 65,485 | 65,443 | 65,709 | 65,868 |
| Change | — | +793 | −73 | −42 | +266 | +159 |
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 Carbon County
Carbon County is divided into 23 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 Penn Forest township, with 10,434 residents (15.8% of the county), and it is also the largest by land at 73.8 mi². The county seat, Jim Thorpe borough, has 4,531 residents. Among those with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, Penn Forest township grew fastest since then (+5.1%).
| County subdivision | Population 2025 | Since 2020 | Land mi² | Share of county land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn Forest township | 10,434 | +5.1% | 73.8 | 19.3% |
| Palmerton borough | 5,615 | +0.4% | 2.485 | 0.7% |
| Lehighton borough | 5,232 | −0.2% | 1.623 | 0.4% |
| Towamensing township | 4,610 | +3.5% | 27.1 | 7.1% |
| Jim Thorpe boroughCounty seat | 4,531 | +0.6% | 14.6 | 3.8% |
| Franklin township | 4,421 | +1.9% | 15.2 | 4% |
| Mahoning township | 4,390 | +3% | 23.7 | 6.2% |
| Lansford borough | 4,123 | −0.4% | 1.536 | 0.4% |
| Nesquehoning borough | 3,336 | −0.1% | 21.2 | 5.5% |
| Summit Hill borough | 3,133 | +0.4% | 8.691 | 2.3% |
| Lower Towamensing township | 3,113 | +2.3% | 21.3 | 5.6% |
| East Penn township | 2,812 | +2.2% | 22.7 | 6% |
| Weatherly borough | 2,546 | −0% | 2.979 | 0.8% |
| Kidder township | 1,856 | +3.7% | 68.9 | 18.1% |
| Banks township | 1,165 | −0.3% | 11.6 | 3.1% |
Show the other 8 subdivisions
| Name | Population 2025 | Since 2020 | Land mi² |
|---|---|---|---|
| Packer township | 1,029 | +0.3% | 27.9 |
| Bowmanstown borough | 895 | +1% | 0.769 |
| Beaver Meadows borough | 889 | −0.3% | 0.258 |
| Lehigh township | 420 | 0% | 26.2 |
| Weissport borough | 418 | −0.5% | 0.135 |
| Parryville borough | 417 | 0% | 1.611 |
| East Side borough | 257 | +4% | 1.154 |
| Lausanne township | 226 | 0% | 5.986 |
Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, counting only the part of each subdivision inside Carbon County. Land: 2026 Census Gazetteer. How communities are listed.
Metropolitan area
Carbon County is an outlying county of the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its 4 county equivalents have 887,615 residents on 1,453 square miles of land; Carbon County accounts for 26.2% of the land and 7.4% of the residents. By combined land it ranks #227 of 393 metropolitan areas, and #70 by population. It belongs to the Allentown-Bethlehem-East Stroudsburg, PA-NJ Combined Statistical Area.
| County equivalent | Population 2025 | Land mi² |
|---|---|---|
| Lehigh County | 384,383 | 345.3 |
| Northampton County | 324,411 | 369.8 |
| Warren CountyNew Jersey | 112,953 | 356.5 |
| Carbon County | 65,868 | 381.4 |
ZIP codes
21 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Carbon County; 16 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.
180121803018058180711820118210182111821218216182291823018232182351823718240182441825018254182551862418661
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 Carbon County
Carbon County shares a land border with 5 county equivalents. It has more land than 2 of them. The largest neighbor is Luzerne County (889.9 mi²) and the smallest is Lehigh County (345.3 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Carbon County forms a block of 3,373.5 mi² of land, of which it holds 11.3%.
| Bordering county equivalent | Land mi² | Size vs. Carbon | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luzerne County | 889.9 | 2.3× larger | Compare |
| Schuylkill County | 778.8 | 2× larger | Compare |
| Monroe County | 608.4 | 1.6× larger | Compare |
| Northampton County | 369.8 | about the same | Compare |
| Lehigh County | 345.3 | 1.1× smaller | Compare |
How big is Carbon County compared with U.S. states?
Carbon County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 2.7 times as much. Pennsylvania’s county land could hold about 117 areas the size of Carbon County.
Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 19.5 miles (31.4 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 Carbon County?
Carbon County has more land than 627 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 Carbon County at #2,642 nationally by total area, 47 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 1.6%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 0.4 percentage points higher. 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 Carbon County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.
| Land rank | County equivalent | Land mi² | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| #2594 | Perry County, Indiana | 381.7 | Compare |
| #2595 | Carbon County, Pennsylvania | 381.4 | This county |
| #2596 | Calhoun County, South Carolina | 381.1 | 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 40.918464, -75.704971. 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: 987,706,474 m²; AWATER: 15,918,752 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 Carbon County?
Carbon County, Pennsylvania has 381.4 square miles (987.7 km²) of land and 6.146 square miles of water, for a total area of 387.5 square miles. It ranks #2595 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.
Is Carbon County the largest county in Pennsylvania?
No. Carbon County ranks #58 of 67 in Pennsylvania by land area. The largest is Lycoming County, with 1,228.9 square miles of land.
What counties border Carbon County?
Carbon County shares a land border with Luzerne County, Monroe County, Schuylkill County, Lehigh County, and Northampton County.
What is the population of Carbon County?
The Census Bureau estimates Carbon County had 65,868 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #848 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 173 people per square mile of land.
What is the county seat of Carbon County?
The county seat of Carbon County is Jim Thorpe.
What cities and towns are in Carbon County?
Carbon County has 23 county subdivisions (cities, towns and townships). The most populous five are Penn Forest township, Palmerton borough, Lehighton borough, Towamensing township, and Jim Thorpe borough.
Is Carbon County part of a metropolitan area?
Yes. It is an outlying county of the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area, which has 4 county equivalents and 887,615 residents.
How many ZIP codes are in Carbon County?
21 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Carbon County, and 16 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.
How does Carbon County compare with U.S. states?
It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 2.7 times as much land.
How many acres of land are in Carbon County?
The land measurement converts to approximately 244,068 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 248,001 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.