Pennsylvania Counties Map: Click All 67 Counties

How many counties are in Pennsylvania?

Pennsylvania has 67 counties. 19 states have more, and 28 have fewer.

Pennsylvania has 67 counties. Philadelphia is both a city and a county; the two governments merged in 1854. Dauphin County holds the capital, Harrisburg, on the Susquehanna River, and tiny Montour County is the smallest by land area.

How Pennsylvania's counties were formed

William Penn created Pennsylvania's first three counties in 1682: Bucks, Chester and Philadelphia. Counties spread west with settlement, across the Alleghenies by the 1770s and into the northwest after the 1790s. Lackawanna County, split from Luzerne County in 1878 around Scranton, was the 67th and last.

Pennsylvania regions and the counties in each

Pennsylvania's regions help divide the map. Southeastern Pennsylvania includes Philadelphia and its suburbs, and Lancaster County is the heart of Pennsylvania Dutch Country. The Lehigh Valley is Lehigh and Northampton, and Northeastern Pennsylvania includes Lackawanna (Scranton), Luzerne and the Pocono Mountains in Monroe and Pike. Central Pennsylvania includes Dauphin (Harrisburg) and Centre (State College). The Northern Tier and Pennsylvania Wilds cover Potter, Tioga and Elk, and Western Pennsylvania centers on Allegheny (Pittsburgh), with Erie in the northwest corner.

Notable places on the Pennsylvania county map

Mount Davis, the state's highest point at 3,213 feet, is in Somerset County, which also holds the Flight 93 National Memorial. Gettysburg National Military Park is in Adams County, Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell are in Philadelphia, and the town of Hershey, built around the chocolate factory, is in Dauphin County.

Pennsylvania counties map: the biggest and smallest

Lycoming County is the largest county in Pennsylvania, with 1,229 square miles of land, about 3% of the state. That's more land than the whole state of Rhode Island. Montour County is the smallest, at 130 square miles.

The smallest counties by land area are Montour County (130 sq mi), Philadelphia County (134 sq mi) and Delaware County (184 sq mi).

Which counties in Pennsylvania have the most people?

Philadelphia County has the most people, about 1,573,916 in the Census Bureau's July 2024 estimate, or 12% of everyone in Pennsylvania. The three biggest counties together hold 28% of the state's 13,078,751 people. Cameron County has the fewest, about 4,348.

The most crowded is Philadelphia County, with about 11,711 people per square mile. The emptiest is Cameron County, with about 11 people per square mile. Comparing the two is a quick way to show children that a big county on the map isn't always a big county in people.

What county is Harrisburg in?

Harrisburg, the capital of Pennsylvania, is in Dauphin County. Dauphin County ranks 14th of 67 by population. Pennsylvania is called the Keystone State, and it became the 2nd state in 1787.

Counties on the Pennsylvania border

Learning the edge of the map first gives children a frame to fill in. Pennsylvania shares a border with Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio and West Virginia.

How Pennsylvania's counties compare with other states

Pennsylvania ranks 32nd among the 50 states in land area and 5th in population. Its average county covers about 668 square miles and holds about 195,205 people. Across the 50 states, the average county-level area covers about 1,139 square miles and holds about 109,381 people, so Pennsylvania's counties are smaller than usual in size. Small counties pack more names into the same space, so zooming in helps.

Landmarks for learning the counties of Pennsylvania

• Philadelphia and its suburban counties (Bucks, Montgomery, Delaware, Chester) fill the southeast corner.
• Allegheny County (Pittsburgh) is in the west where three rivers meet.
• Erie County has the state's only Great Lakes shoreline, in the northwest corner.

With 67 counties, work one region at a time: study it with names on, then take a Practice round and stop when you've found that group. Then print the Pennsylvania county map worksheet to check that it sticks on paper.

All 67 Pennsylvania counties

Every county on the map, A to Z, with its land area and July 2024 population estimate.

Pennsylvania geography for homeschoolers

Pair this map with the Northeast states and capitals quiz and the US states quiz. If you teach at home, see homeschooling in pennsylvania, and check pennsylvania school choice to see whether a program may help pay for Pennsylvania history and geography curriculum. Each program decides what it covers.