Map of the United States withPennsylvania highlighted There are 56 municipalities classified as cities in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.[ 1] city is further classified based on population, with Philadelphia being of the first class, Pittsburgh of the second class, Scranton of the second class A, and the remaining 53 cities being of the third class.
While the default form of government for third class cities is the Third Class City Code, only 18 cities still use this form of government. The City ofParker is the only city that still operates under a special act, and has a weak mayor-council form of government. All three cities not of the third class, along with 23 third class cities, have adoptedhome rule charters , which give the cities broader powers to manage their affairs. When a city adopts a home rule charter, it does not lose its status as a city nor its classification.[ 2]
Two cities have adopted optional plans under the same law. From 1957 to 1972, third class cities were able to adopt optional charters, of which 9 remain in effect. Cities that operate under home rule charters, optional plans, or optional charters are also found in theList of Pennsylvania municipalities and counties with home rule charters, optional charters, or optional plans .
Home rule municipalities that are styled as cities but not classified as cities are not included below.
Pittsburgh , the second-largest city in Pennsylvania
Allentown , the third-largest city in Pennsylvania
Reading , the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania
Erie , the fifth-largest city in Pennsylvania
List of cities in Pennsylvania [ edit ]
† County Seat
Name Type County[ 3] Class Population Incorporation Area[ 4] Area (km2 ) Aliquippa City Beaver Third 9,238[ 5] 1987 4.19 10.9 Allentown† City Lehigh Third 125,845[ 6] 1867 17.55 45.5 Altoona City Blair Third 43,963[ 7] 1868 9.91 25.7 Arnold City Westmoreland Third 4,772[ 8] 1939 0.73 1.9 Beaver Falls City Beaver Third 9,005[ 9] 1928 2.13 5.5 Bethlehem City Lehigh Northampton Third 75,781[ 10] 1917 19.10 49.5 Bradford City McKean Third 7,849[ 11] 1879 3.35 8.7 Butler† City Butler Third 13,502[ 12] 1918 2.72 7.0 Carbondale City Lackawanna Third 8,828[ 13] 1851 3.24 8.4 Chester City Delaware Third 32,605[ 14] 1866 4.84 12.5 Clairton City Allegheny Third 6,181[ 15] 1922 2.79 7.2 Coatesville City Chester Third 13,350[ 16] 1915 1.81 4.7 Connellsville City Fayette Third 7,031[ 10] 1911 2.18 5.6 Corry City Erie Third 6,210[ 17] 1866 5.99 15.5 DuBois City Clearfield Third 7,510[ 18] 1914 3.18 8.2 Duquesne City Allegheny Third 5,254[ 19] 1918 1.82 4.7 Easton† City Northampton Third 28,127[ 20] 1887 4.07 10.5 Erie† City Erie Third 94,831[ 21] 1851 19.08 49.4 Farrell City Mercer Third 4,258[ 22] 1932 1.27 3.3 Franklin† City Venango Third 6,077[ 10] 1868 4.68 12.1 Greensburg† City Westmoreland Third 14,976[ 23] 1928 4.06 10.5 Harrisburg† City Dauphin Third 50,135[ 24] 1860 8.13 21.1 Hazleton City Luzerne Third 29,963[ 25] 1891 6.01 15.6 Hermitage City Mercer Third 16,230[ 26] 1976 29.23 75.7 Jeannette City Westmoreland Third 8,780[ 27] 1938 2.39 6.2 Johnstown City Cambria Third 18,411[ 28] 1889 5.89 15.3 Lancaster† City Lancaster Third 58,039[ 29] 1818 7.23 18.7 Lebanon† City Lebanon Third 26,814[ 30] 1885 4.17 10.8 Lock Haven† City Clinton Third 8,108[ 31] 1870 2.50 6.5 Lower Burrell City Westmoreland Third 11,758[ 32] 1959 11.26 29.2 McKeesport City Allegheny Third 17,727[ 33] 1891 5.5 14 Meadville† City Crawford Third 13,050[ 34] 1866 4.38 11.3 Monessen City Westmoreland Third 6,876[ 35] 1921 2.89 7.5 Monongahela City Washington Third 4,159[ 36] 1873 1.98 5.1 Nanticoke City Luzerne Third 10,628[ 37] 1926 3.49 9.0 New Castle† City Lawrence Third 21,926[ 38] 1869 8.31 21.5 New Kensington City Westmoreland Third 12,170[ 39] 1934 3.95 10.2 Oil City City Venango Third 9,613[ 40] 1871 4.49 11.6 Parker City Armstrong Third 695[ 41] 1873 0.87 2.3 Philadelphia† City Philadelphia First 1,603,797[ 42] 1701 134.1 347 Pittsburgh† City Allegheny Second 302,971[ 43] 1816 55.37 143.4 Pittston City Luzerne Third 7,591[ 44] 1894 1.55 4.0 Pottsville† City Schuylkill Third 13,346[ 45] 1911 4.89 12.7 Reading† City Berks Third 95,112[ 46] 1847 9.88 25.6 St. Marys City Elk Third 12,738[ 47] 1992 99.32 257.2 Scranton† City Lackawanna Second A 76,328[ 48] 1866 25.31 65.6 Shamokin City Northumberland Third 6,942[ 49] 1949 0.83 2.1 Sharon City Mercer Third 13,147[ 50] 1917 3.77 9.8 Sunbury† City Northumberland Third 9,719[ 51] 1920 2.06 5.3 Titusville City Crawford Third 5,262[ 52] 1866 2.90 7.5 Uniontown† City Fayette Third 9,984[ 53] 1864 2.04 5.3 Warren† City Warren Third 9,404[ 54] 1832 2.91 7.5 Washington† City Washington Third 13,176[ 10] 1924 2.95 7.6 Wilkes-Barre† City Luzerne Third 44,328[ 55] 1871 6.98 18.1 Williamsport† City Lycoming Third 27,754[ 56] 1866 8.73 22.6 York† City York Third 44,800[ 57] 1887 5.29 13.7
^ "PA Municipalities List" .dced.pa.gov . RetrievedAugust 23, 2019 .^ McSwain v. City of Farrell 154 Pa. Commw. 523 , 526 (Pa. Commw. 1993) ("Although the city has adopted a home rule charter, it is still a third class city").^ "ClearGov" .www.cleargov.com . RetrievedMay 17, 2019 .^ "Tiger/Census Tract Comparability File".Census of Population and Housing, 1990 [United States] . October 31, 1992.doi :10.3886/icpsr09810 . ^ "Aliquippa, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Allentown, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Altoona, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Arnold, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Beaver Falls, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^a b c d "Api.census.gov | Census Data" .api.census.gov . RetrievedMarch 13, 2023 .^ "Bradford, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Butler, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Carbondale, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Chester, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Clairton, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Coatesville, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Corry, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "DuBois, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Duquesne, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Easton, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Erie, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Farrell, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Greensburg, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Harrisburg, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Hazleton, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Hermitage, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Jeannette, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Johnstown, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Lancaster, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Lebanon, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Lock Haven, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Lower Burrell, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "McKeesport, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Meadville, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Monessen, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Monongahela, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Nanticoke, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "New Castle, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "New Kensington, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Oil City, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Parker, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Philadelphia, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Pittsburg, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "PIttston, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Pottsville, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Reading, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "St. Marys, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Scranton, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Shamokin, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Sharon, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Sunbury, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Titusville, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Uniontown, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Warren, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Wilkes-Barre, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "Williamsport, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .^ "York, PA | Financial and Demographic Profile | Cleargov" .cleargov.com . RetrievedMarch 14, 2023 .
