County outline
Where Schuylkill County is located
Area breakdown
Land accounts for 99.5% of Schuylkill County’s measured area and water for 0.5%. Its combined area converts to 2,027.3 square kilometers or approximately 500,964 acres.
Green: land · blue: water
| Measurement | Square miles | Square kilometers | Acres |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land | 778.772 | 2,017.01 | 498,414.1 |
| Water | 3.985 | 10.321 | 2,550.4 |
| Total | 782.757 | 2,027.331 | 500,964.5 |
How Schuylkill County compares
By original Census land area, Schuylkill County ranks #26 of 67 in Pennsylvania and #1111 of 3,222 nationally. National rankings include the 50 states, District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
Its land area is 1.192 times the Pennsylvania county-equivalent median of 653.3 square miles. It accounts for 1.7% of the combined county land area in the state.
See the complete Pennsylvania ranking · What counts as a county equivalent?
Population and density of Schuylkill County
The Census Bureau estimates that 145,085 people lived in Schuylkill County on July 1, 2025. That ranks #476 of 3,222 county equivalents nationally and #25 of 67 in Pennsylvania. Since the April 1, 2020 estimates base of 143,042, the population has grown by 2,043 (+1.4%), compared with +0.4% for Pennsylvania as a whole.
With 778.8 square miles of land, that is 186 people per square mile (72 per km²), placing Schuylkill County #665 nationally for density and #29 in Pennsylvania. The median county equivalent has 47 people per square mile; the Pennsylvania median is 137. Put another way, there are about 3.4 acres of land per resident.
| July 1 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimate | 142,944 | 143,148 | 143,114 | 143,892 | 144,409 | 145,085 |
| Change | — | +204 | −34 | +778 | +517 | +676 |
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 Schuylkill County
Schuylkill County is divided into 67 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 Pottsville city, with 13,170 residents (9.1% of the county). The largest by land is West Penn township, at 58 mi², or 7.4% of the county’s land. Among those with at least 1,000 residents in 2020, West Brunswick township grew fastest since then (+7.1%).
| County subdivision | Population 2025 | Since 2020 | Land mi² | Share of county land |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pottsville cityCounty seat | 13,170 | +0.2% | 4.166 | 0.5% |
| Tamaqua borough | 6,929 | +0.2% | 9.562 | 1.2% |
| Wayne township | 5,385 | +3.5% | 35.2 | 4.5% |
| Schuylkill Haven borough | 5,253 | +0.7% | 1.398 | 0.2% |
| Butler township | 5,105 | +4.5% | 26 | 3.3% |
| West Penn township | 4,616 | +5.8% | 58 | 7.4% |
| Minersville borough | 4,423 | +1.1% | 0.657 | 0.1% |
| North Manheim township | 4,234 | +3.3% | 20.3 | 2.6% |
| Shenandoah borough | 4,122 | +0.1% | 1.511 | 0.2% |
| Pine Grove township | 4,109 | +2.5% | 37.8 | 4.9% |
| Frackville borough | 3,893 | +1% | 0.595 | 0.1% |
| Mahanoy City borough | 3,539 | +0.9% | 0.51 | 0.1% |
| Rush township | 3,516 | +2.8% | 23.2 | 3% |
| West Brunswick township | 3,501 | +7.1% | 30.4 | 3.9% |
| Hegins township | 3,368 | +1% | 31.9 | 4.1% |
Show the other 52 subdivisions
| Name | Population 2025 | Since 2020 | Land mi² |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington township | 3,175 | +1.3% | 31 |
| Mahanoy township | 3,022 | −5.7% | 21.1 |
| Orwigsburg borough | 3,003 | +0.5% | 2.17 |
| West Mahanoy township | 2,909 | +0.1% | 10.3 |
| South Manheim township | 2,820 | +3.6% | 20.8 |
| St. Clair borough | 2,755 | +0.5% | 1.233 |
| Ryan township | 2,550 | −1.6% | 17.7 |
| Ashland borough | 2,520 | +1% | 1.644 |
| McAdoo borough | 2,474 | +0.1% | 0.347 |
| Coaldale borough | 2,440 | +0.1% | 2.175 |
| Norwegian township | 2,403 | +2.8% | 5.868 |
| Porter township | 2,188 | +1.2% | 18 |
| Pine Grove borough | 2,077 | +1% | 1.065 |
| East Brunswick township | 1,900 | +2.9% | 30.6 |
| Port Carbon borough | 1,806 | +0.2% | 0.754 |
| Cass township | 1,781 | +0.8% | 14.4 |
| Branch township | 1,762 | +0.9% | 11.5 |
| East Union township | 1,734 | +5.3% | 25.8 |
| Tremont borough | 1,696 | +1% | 0.726 |
| Cressona borough | 1,622 | +2% | 0.998 |
| Kline township | 1,482 | +0.9% | 12.3 |
| Tower City borough | 1,434 | +0.9% | 0.315 |
| North Union township | 1,412 | +1.3% | 20.7 |
| Girardville borough | 1,325 | +0.9% | 0.518 |
| Union township | 1,244 | +1.3% | 21.5 |
| Schuylkill township | 1,079 | +0.5% | 9.656 |
| New Philadelphia borough | 1,062 | +1% | 1.505 |
| Walker township | 1,017 | +2.8% | 22.8 |
| Palo Alto borough | 983 | +1.2% | 1.044 |
| Barry township | 926 | +1.5% | 16.8 |
| East Norwegian township | 890 | +1.1% | 4.075 |
| Hubley township | 886 | +2.8% | 13.3 |
| Blythe township | 828 | +0.6% | 27.6 |
| Gordon borough | 769 | +0.9% | 0.593 |
| Ringtown borough | 721 | 0% | 0.438 |
| Eldred township | 716 | +1.3% | 22.2 |
| Deer Lake borough | 693 | +1.3% | 0.439 |
| Auburn borough | 677 | +0.9% | 1.623 |
| Reilly township | 642 | +1.3% | 15.6 |
| Upper Mahantongo township | 619 | +1.3% | 14.8 |
| Gilberton borough | 590 | +1.5% | 1.419 |
| Mechanicsville borough | 458 | +1.1% | 0.326 |
| Frailey township | 420 | +1.2% | 9.146 |
| Delano township | 404 | +2% | 8.099 |
| Middleport borough | 363 | +1.1% | 0.439 |
| New Castle township | 349 | 0% | 12.3 |
| Port Clinton borough | 281 | +0.7% | 0.762 |
| Tremont township | 279 | +1.5% | 24.2 |
| New Ringgold borough | 254 | +0.8% | 0.799 |
| Foster township | 245 | +1.7% | 13.1 |
| Landingville borough | 145 | +0.7% | 0.858 |
| Mount Carbon borough | 92 | +1.1% | 0.069 |
Population: U.S. Census Bureau Vintage 2025 subcounty estimates, counting only the part of each subdivision inside Schuylkill County. Land: 2026 Census Gazetteer. How communities are listed.
Metropolitan area
Schuylkill County is a central county of the Pottsville, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. Schuylkill County is the area’s only county equivalent, so the micro area has the same 778.8 square miles of land. By combined land it ranks #274 of 542 micropolitan areas, and #10 by population.
ZIP codes
59 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Schuylkill County; 52 of them have most of their land inside the county, and the others mainly cover neighboring areas.
1790117921179221792317925179291793017931179331793417935179361793817941179431794417945179461794817949179511795217953179541795717959179601796117963179641796517967179681797017972179741797617978179791798017981179821798317985182021821118214182181822018231182371824018241182421824518248182501825219549
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 Schuylkill County
Schuylkill County shares a land border with 8 county equivalents. It has more land than 6 of them. The largest neighbor is Luzerne County (889.9 mi²) and the smallest is Lehigh County (345.3 mi²). Together with its neighbors, Schuylkill County forms a block of 5,079.4 mi² of land, of which it holds 15.3%.
| Bordering county equivalent | Land mi² | Size vs. Schuylkill | Compare |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luzerne County | 889.9 | 1.1× larger | Compare |
| Berks County | 856.4 | 1.1× larger | Compare |
| Dauphin County | 524.9 | 1.5× smaller | Compare |
| Columbia County | 483.3 | 1.6× smaller | Compare |
| Northumberland County | 457.7 | 1.7× smaller | Compare |
| Carbon County | 381.4 | 2× smaller | Compare |
| Lebanon County | 361.8 | 2.2× smaller | Compare |
| Lehigh County | 345.3 | 2.3× smaller | Compare |
How big is Schuylkill County compared with U.S. states?
Schuylkill County has less land than any of the 50 states. Rhode Island, the smallest state by land area, has 1,033.9 mi², about 1.3 times as much. Pennsylvania’s county land could hold about 57 areas the size of Schuylkill County.
Another way to picture it: the same land area would fill a square about 27.9 miles (44.9 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 Schuylkill County?
Schuylkill County has more land than 2,111 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 Schuylkill County at #1,213 nationally by total area, 102 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 0.5%, compared with a national county-equivalent median of 1.2% — 0.7 percentage points lower. 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 Schuylkill County in the national ranking. They can be in different states and are not necessarily geographic neighbors.
| Land rank | County equivalent | Land mi² | Comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1110 | Charlton County, Georgia | 780.1 | Compare |
| #1111 | Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania | 778.8 | This county |
| #1112 | Clayton County, Iowa | 778.5 | 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 40.703682, -76.217788. 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: 2,017,009,024 m²; AWATER: 10,321,177 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 Schuylkill County?
Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania has 778.8 square miles (2,017 km²) of land and 3.985 square miles of water, for a total area of 782.8 square miles. It ranks #1111 of 3,222 U.S. county equivalents by land area.
Is Schuylkill County the largest county in Pennsylvania?
No. Schuylkill County ranks #26 of 67 in Pennsylvania by land area. The largest is Lycoming County, with 1,228.9 square miles of land.
What counties border Schuylkill County?
Schuylkill County shares a land border with Berks County, Northumberland County, Carbon County, Columbia County, Luzerne County, Dauphin County, Lehigh County, and Lebanon County.
What is the population of Schuylkill County?
The Census Bureau estimates Schuylkill County had 145,085 residents on July 1, 2025, ranking #476 of 3,222 county equivalents. That is 186 people per square mile of land.
What is the county seat of Schuylkill County?
The county seat of Schuylkill County is Pottsville.
What cities and towns are in Schuylkill County?
Schuylkill County has 67 county subdivisions (cities, towns and townships). The most populous five are Pottsville city, Tamaqua borough, Wayne township, Schuylkill Haven borough, and Butler township.
Is Schuylkill County part of a metropolitan area?
Yes. It is a central county of the Pottsville, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area.
How many ZIP codes are in Schuylkill County?
59 ZIP Code Tabulation Areas have land in Schuylkill County, and 52 of them have most of their land inside the county. Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas approximate USPS ZIP Code areas.
How does Schuylkill County compare with U.S. states?
It has less land than every state. Rhode Island, the smallest, has 1.3 times as much land.
How many acres of land are in Schuylkill County?
The land measurement converts to approximately 498,414 acres. Including water, total area is approximately 500,964 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.