Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania

Wilkes-Barre
City
Downtown Wilkes-Barre along the Susquehanna River Wilkes-Barre Public Square Luzerne County Courthouse Panorama of Wilkes-Barre
Flag Seal
Nickname(s):  The Diamond City, W-B, Coal City
Motto:  Pattern After Us
Show Wilkes-Barre Show Luzerne County Show Pennsylvania Show the United States
Coordinates: 41°14′40″N 75°52′41″W / 41.24444°N 75.87806°W / 41.24444; -75.87806
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
County	Luzerne
Founded	1769
Incorporated	1806: Borough
	1871: City
Named for	John Wilkes, Isaac Barré
Government
• Type	Mayor–council
• Body	Wilkes-Barre City Council
• Mayor	George Brown (D)
Area [2]
• City	7.19 sq mi (18.63 km2)
• Land	6.85 sq mi (17.74 km2)
• Water	0.35 sq mi (0.90 km2)
Elevation	525 ft (160 m)
Population  (2020)[3]
• City	44,328
• Density	6,473.13/sq mi (2,499.19/km2)
• Urban	401,884 (US: 100th)
• Metro	562,037
Time zone	UTC−5 (EST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
ZIP Codes[4]	18701–18703, 18705, 18706, 18710, 18711, 18762, 18764–18767, 18769, 18773
Area code	570 and 272[5]
FIPS code	42-85152
Website	www.wilkes-barre.city

Wilkes-Barre (/ˈwɪlksbɛər/ WILKS-bair or /-bɛəri/ -⁠bair-ee) is a city in and the county seat of Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the second-largest city, after Scranton, in the Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a population of 567,559 as of the 2020 census, making it the fifth-largest metropolitan area in Pennsylvania after the Delaware Valley, Greater Pittsburgh, the Lehigh Valley, and Greater Harrisburg.^[6]

The contiguous network of five cities and more than 40 boroughs all built in a straight line in Northeastern Pennsylvania's urban core act culturally and logistically as one continuous city, so while the city of Wilkes-Barre itself is a mid-sized city, the larger Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Urban Area contains half a million residents in roughly 300 square miles (780 km²). Scranton/Wilkes-Barre is the cultural and economic center of a region called Northeastern Pennsylvania, which is home to over 1.3 million residents. Wilkes-Barre and the surrounding Wyoming Valley are framed by the Pocono Mountains to the east, the Endless Mountains to the north and west, and the Lehigh Valley to the south. The Susquehanna River flows through the center of the valley and defines the northwestern border of the city.

Wilkes-Barre was founded in 1769, incorporated as a borough in 1806, and formally re-incorporated as a city in 1869. The city grew rapidly in the 19th century after the discovery of nearby coal reserves and the arrival of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, who provided a labor force for the city's mines. The mining of high-quality anthracite coal fueled industrialization in the city, which reached the height of its prosperity in the first half of the 20th century. Its population peaked at more than 86,000 in 1930.

Following World War II, the city's economy declined due to the collapse of industry. The Knox Mine disaster accelerated this trend after large portions of the area's coal mines were flooded and could not be reopened. In the 21st century, the city's population is roughly half that of its peak population of the 1930s, though it remains the largest city in Luzerne County and the 13th-largest city in Pennsylvania.

Wilkes-Barre is located approximately 63 miles (101 km) northwest of Allentown, and 113 miles (182 km) northwest of Philadelphia.