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PantryPath Research · Rural & Persistent Poverty Atlas

Rural poverty in Pennsylvania

1 persistent-poverty county

Pennsylvania has 1 persistent-poverty counties and 34 nonmetro counties — home to 1,582,432 residents living in counties with 30+ years of 20%-or-higher poverty. The state's all-ages poverty rate is 11.8% and child poverty is 16.0%.

1

Persistent-poverty counties

34

Nonmetro counties (RUCC 4–9)

1.6M

Residents in PPCs

67

Total counties

Pennsylvania by county

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Toggle between the rural hunger risk score, all-ages poverty, child poverty, the Rural-Urban Continuum Code, and the binary persistent-poverty flag. Hover a county for its ERS typology and ACS poverty rate.

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Pennsylvania at a glance

Poverty rate

11.8%

All ages, ACS S1701

Child poverty

16.0%

Under 18

PPC share

1.5%

Of counties in state

Nonmetro share

50.7%

RUCC 4–9

Pantries / 100K

2.44

PantryPath verified

Risk score (mean)

0.16

Composite 0–1

"Pantries / 100K" divides Pennsylvania's 317 verified PantryPath pantries by the state population — a minimum-density indicator, not a saturated census. See methodology.

County-level hotspots

Top five counties across 67 in Pennsylvania.

Highest rural hunger risk

Composite 0–1 score

  1. 1 Philadelphia 0.39
  2. 2 Cameron 0.36
  3. 3 Forest 0.36
  4. 4 Potter 0.35
  5. 5 Tioga 0.31

Highest poverty rate

ACS all-ages

  1. 1 Philadelphia 22.0%
  2. 2 Fayette 17.4%
  3. 3 Centre 16.9%
  4. 4 Cameron 16.0%
  5. 5 Mifflin 16.0%

Persistent-poverty counties

PPCs ranked by current poverty

  1. 1 Philadelphia 22.0%

Every county in Pennsylvania

All 67 counties with RUCC, typology flags, and ACS poverty data.

County RUCC PPC Flags Poverty Child poverty Population Risk
Adams 3 — — 8.4% 13.6% 105,183 0.11
Allegheny 1 — — 11.2% 14.8% 1,240,476 0.04
Armstrong 1 — Pop. loss 11.3% 15.3% 65,069 0.05
Beaver 1 — Pop. loss 10.1% 15.4% 166,993 0.04
Bedford 8 — Pop. loss 11.0% 13.5% 47,503 0.31
Berks 2 — — 11.7% 17.5% 429,989 0.08
Blair 3 — Pop. loss 13.0% 16.6% 121,854 0.13
Bradford 6 — Pop. loss 13.4% 17.7% 59,971 0.24
Bucks 1 — — 6.1% 7.6% 645,993 0.02
Butler 1 — — 8.0% 7.6% 195,870 0.03
Cambria 3 — Pop. loss 14.2% 20.5% 132,355 0.13
Cameron 9 — Pop. loss 16.0% 20.2% 4,475 0.36
Carbon 2 — — 12.0% 18.6% 65,191 0.09
Centre 3 — Housing 16.9% 9.2% 158,041 0.14
Chester 1 — — 5.9% 7.4% 540,896 0.02
Clarion 6 — Pop. loss 13.9% 15.4% 37,297 0.24
Clearfield 4 — Pop. loss 13.8% 19.3% 78,902 0.17
Clinton 6 — — 14.2% 16.1% 37,707 0.24
Columbia 4 — — 15.7% 18.7% 65,055 0.18
Crawford 4 — Pop. loss 12.8% 17.0% 83,189 0.16
Cumberland 2 — — 7.8% 9.8% 264,422 0.07
Dauphin 2 — — 12.3% 17.0% 287,484 0.09
Delaware 1 — Housing 10.2% 13.8% 576,195 0.04
Elk 7 — Pop. loss 9.1% 13.3% 30,703 0.26
Erie 2 — Pop. loss 15.4% 21.8% 269,544 0.10
Fayette 1 — Pop. loss 17.4% 24.3% 126,967 0.07
Forest 9 — Low emp., Low ed. 14.7% 23.8% 6,785 0.36
Franklin 3 — — 7.8% 10.1% 156,626 0.11
Fulton 8 — — 11.7% 18.6% 14,545 0.31
Greene 6 — Pop. loss 12.5% 16.3% 35,265 0.24
Huntingdon 6 — Low ed. 11.0% 17.8% 43,844 0.23
Indiana 4 — Pop. loss 12.8% 15.0% 83,213 0.16
Jefferson 7 — Low ed., Pop. loss 15.3% 23.7% 44,099 0.29
Juniata 8 — Low ed. 10.0% 15.3% 23,419 0.30
Lackawanna 2 — — 14.0% 19.2% 215,834 0.09
Lancaster 2 — — 8.7% 11.3% 555,151 0.07
Lawrence 1 — Pop. loss 11.6% 16.5% 85,423 0.05
Lebanon 3 — — 10.6% 15.2% 143,592 0.12
Lehigh 2 — Housing 11.9% 18.2% 375,408 0.09
Luzerne 2 — — 15.4% 25.1% 325,978 0.10
Lycoming 3 — Pop. loss 12.5% 18.0% 113,570 0.13
McKean 7 — Pop. loss 13.7% 16.8% 40,149 0.28
Mercer 4 — Pop. loss 12.8% 20.0% 109,852 0.16
Mifflin 4 — Low ed. 16.0% 26.5% 46,074 0.18
Monroe 4 — Housing 11.3% 15.4% 167,784 0.16
Montgomery 1 — — 6.5% 7.9% 861,225 0.03
Montour 6 — — 8.8% 12.7% 18,079 0.22
Northampton 2 — — 8.8% 12.6% 315,927 0.07
Northumberland 4 — Pop. loss 12.2% 16.0% 90,925 0.16
Perry 2 — — 8.0% 11.7% 45,988 0.07
Philadelphia 1 Yes Housing 22.0% 30.1% 1,582,432 0.39
Pike 6 — — 9.3% 12.4% 59,691 0.22
Potter 9 — Pop. loss 11.7% 18.9% 16,276 0.35
Schuylkill 4 — Pop. loss 12.5% 18.4% 143,259 0.16
Snyder 7 — — 8.6% 10.6% 39,711 0.26
Somerset 6 — Pop. loss 11.2% 15.3% 73,255 0.23
Sullivan 8 — Low ed., Pop. loss, Retire. 11.0% 19.8% 5,849 0.31
Susquehanna 8 — — 10.9% 15.8% 38,349 0.31
Tioga 8 — — 11.8% 18.0% 41,078 0.31
Union 6 — Low emp. 9.7% 9.7% 42,570 0.23
Venango 4 — Pop. loss 12.8% 18.6% 50,096 0.16
Warren 6 — Pop. loss 11.4% 16.4% 38,174 0.23
Washington 1 — — 9.4% 12.4% 209,778 0.04
Wayne 6 — — 12.2% 15.7% 51,189 0.24
Westmoreland 1 — Pop. loss 10.0% 13.1% 353,345 0.04
Wyoming 2 — — 11.4% 16.5% 26,075 0.08
York 2 — — 8.6% 11.1% 459,312 0.07

Find a food pantry in Pennsylvania

Search Pennsylvania's 317 verified pantries, food banks, and meal programs — filtered by city, open-now status, and service type.

Pennsylvania pantry directory

Pennsylvania SNAP

Income limits, application steps, and EBT card details for residents of persistent-poverty counties and beyond.

Pennsylvania SNAP guide

Emergency food help

National hotlines, 211 referrals, and same-day food options — critical in rural counties where the nearest pantry may be 30+ miles away.

Emergency food

Food deserts atlas

Rural poverty and low food access often overlap. Compare persistent-poverty counties to USDA's low-income / low-access food desert designations.

Pennsylvania food deserts

Methodology

How we combined USDA ERS typology codes, the Rural-Urban Continuum, ACS poverty data, and PantryPath's own pantry directory — plus the risk-score formula.

Full methodology