York County, Pennsylvania

York County
County
York County Administrative Center in York, Pennsylvania
Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 39°55′N 76°44′W / 39.92°N 76.73°W / 39.92; -76.73
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
Founded	August 19, 1749
Named for	Duke of York
Seat	York
Largest city	York
Area
• Total	911 sq mi (2,360 km2)
• Land	904 sq mi (2,340 km2)
• Water	6.5 sq mi (17 km2)  0.7%
Population  (2020)
• Total	456,438
• Density	481.1/sq mi (185.8/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional districts	10th, 11th
Website	yorkcountypa.gov

York County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 456,438.^[1] Its county seat is York.^[2] The county was created on August 19, 1749, from part of Lancaster County and named either after the Duke of York, an early patron of the Penn family, or for the city and county of York in England. The county is part of the South Central region of the state.^[a]

York County comprises the York-Hanover, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Harrisburg-York-Lebanon, Pennsylvania combined statistical area. It is in the Susquehanna Valley, a large fertile agricultural region in South Central Pennsylvania.

Based on the Articles of Confederation having been adopted in York by the Second Continental Congress on November 15, 1777, the local government and business community began referring to York in the 1960s as the first capital of the United States of America. The designation has been debated by historians ever since.^[3] Congress considered York and the borough of Wrightsville on the eastern side of York County along the Susquehanna River as the nation's permanent capital before Washington, D.C. was selected.^[4]

York County is home to Martin's Potato Chips in Thomasville; Utz Quality Foods, Inc., Snyder's of Hanover, and Hanover Foods in Hanover; Gibble's Potato Chips, and Wolfgang Candy in York; the Emigsville Band in Emigsville; a major manufacturing branch of Harley-Davidson Motor Company, the York International brand of refrigeration/HVAC equipment, and York Barbell. York was the home of The Bon-Ton from 1898 to 2018, and Dentsply Sirona until 2019.^[5]

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