Which Philly-Area Municipalities Are Growing The Fastest?

Municipalities in Chester and Montgomery counties saw the biggest growth last year, while just four places in Camden County – including Camden City – added any residents at all.

That’s according to new Census Bureau data, released Thursday, that shows population gains and losses in communities across the country for the one-year period ending in July 2014.

Population figures for counties – including Philadelphia, which saw its population grow 0.27 percent to 1,560,297 residents during that time – were released earlier this spring.

The new data set lets every town, from the smallest boroughs to the largest cities, see how many residents it gained or lost.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/20150522_Which_Philly-area_municipalities_are_growing_the_fastest_.html#CHc0iHBrbYeXs16r.99

Census Figures Show Population Drops In NEPA Across The Board

Locator map of the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Statistical Area in the northeastern part of the of . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

About 2,000 fewer people lived in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metro in 2013 compared to the previous year, as deaths outpaced births and more people fled the area than flocked to it.

All seven counties in Northeastern Pennsylvania lost population between July 1, 2012 and July 1, 2013, according to new annual estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau today. Unlike the once-a-decade census, the annual estimates are based on records such as birth and death certificates,tax forms and Medicare enrollment.

Gordon De Jong, Ph.D., a professor emeritus of sociology and demography at Penn State, said the aging population, low birth rate and lack of economic opportunity in Northeastern Pennsylvania continue to cost its residents.

“The fundamental underlying trend is continued, if not accelerated,” De Jong said.

Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/census-figures-show-population-drops-in-nepa-across-the-board-1.1657880

More People Moving To Lehigh Valley, More Leaving Northwest New Jersey, Census Data Show

English: Pennsylvania county map (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If the latest U.S. Census Bureau data are any indication, the Delaware River is the great divider between growth and decline in this region’s population.

More people are moving out of Warren and Hunterdon counties in New Jersey while more are moving into Northampton and Lehigh counties in Pennsylvania.

The Census Bureau this morning released county-by-county population estimates for last year. The data show both New Jersey counties lost population; both Pennsylvania counties gained population. This pattern has continued for three straight years, the data show.

Births outpaced deaths in all four counties; the population changes are instead tied to people migrating to or emigrating out of the counties, according to the census.

Read more: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/breaking-news/index.ssf/2014/03/more_people_moving_to_lehigh_v.html

Online Publication: Scranton Is Nation’s Most Hungover City

Sam Bernardini had the Bog pretty much to himself Wednesday night.

The Scranton was packed with New Year’s Eve revelers the night before, but Bernardini rang in 2014 at home.

“Amateurs go out on New Year’s Eve,” he said, one of four patrons at the bar. Few city watering holes were open, and those that were had far more barstools than customers, suggesting that a study published by Business Insider might have merit.

The online publication ranked Scranton the “Most Hungover City in America” in a list of 25 communities where citizens were likely to be nursing sore heads and queasy stomachs Wednesday morning.

Read more: http://citizensvoice.com/news/online-publication-scranton-is-nation-s-most-hungover-city-1.1610427

One In Three Kids In Scranton In Poverty

Locator map of the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Statistical Area in the northeastern part of the of . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As grim as the numbers are, Monsignor Joseph P. Kelly anticipated worse.

New U.S. Census Bureau estimates released Thursday showed deepening poverty across Northeast Pennsylvania, particularly among children.

In Scranton, more than one of every three children – a whopping 33.5 percent – lived in poverty in 2012. Throughout the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton metro area, the rate was one in four among kids and one in six across the entire population.

“I’m not surprised other than I thought the numbers would be higher overall,” said Monsignor Kelly, executive director of Catholic Social Services of the Diocese of Scranton.

That he was wrong didn’t make him feel any better about the figures or the misery they represent.

“I don’t know how our families are surviving,” he said. “There is little or no help.”

Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/one-in-three-kids-in-scranton-in-poverty-1.1555434

Poverty In Reading Worsens, Census Says

English: Downtown Reading, Pennsylvania; with Berks County courthouse on left; July 2007 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Reading’s poverty rate worsened in 2012, making it the second most impoverished city in the country behind Detroit.

The percent of city residents in poverty increased from 40.1 to 40.5, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Census Bureau.

That’s less than the 41.3 percent of Reading residents who were in poverty in 2010 when Reading had a higher percentage of residents in poverty than any other U.S. city with 65,000 or more people.

But hope for Reading still exists, said Jane Palmer, principal author and coordinator of the 65-page 2011 report of the Rebuilding Reading Poverty Commission.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=512690

Harrisburg’s Population Dips Since 2010, Census Bureau Says

Harrisburg has lost a few residents since the beginning of the decade, according to new 2012 population estimates released Thursday from the U.S. Census Bureau.

It’s hardly a mass exodus by any means, but Pennsylvania’s capital city has lost 249 residents since 2010, according to census estimates.  In 2012, Harrisburg’s city population stood at 49,279, a decline of 0.5 percent.

Harrisburg has faced no shortage of challenges.

The city’s financial calamities have drawn national attention.  Harrisburg’s debt has soared to $370 million, due to costly repairs to the city’s incinerator.  The state-appointed receiver, Maj. Gen. William Lynch, is negotiating agreements to try and resolve the city’s financial crisis.

Read more:  http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2013/05/harrisburgs_population_dips_si.html

NEPA Plagued With Poverty, Census Numbers Say

Locator map of the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Statistical Area in the northeastern part of the of . (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Nearly one in every three children in Scranton lived in poverty in 2011, according to a new census report released Thursday.

In Lackawanna County, about one in every five children lived in poverty last year, while in neighboring Luzerne County, about one in three children did, U.S. Census Bureau estimates show.

Overall, on average, about one in every seven residents in both Lackawanna and Luzerne lived in poverty in 2011, the figures show.  In Scranton, nearly one in four city residents lived in poverty.

The poverty numbers underscore what local community leaders already know: More people in Northeast Pennsylvania are struggling to make ends meet.  And, they say, the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

Read more:  http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/nepa-plagued-with-poverty-census-numbers-say-1.1376654#

8 States With Deepest Funding Cuts

Editor’s note:  Pennsylvania did NOT make this list….you may be surprised by some of the states that did!

The Great Recession pinched state governments, forcing them to be less generous with local communities which, in turn, had less to spend on students, police and programs for the poor.

For nearly three decades, local governments could count on a steady increase in money from their two biggest funding sources — the states and property taxes.

That changed in 2009 and 2010, when local governments took in less from both sources, according to a report last month from the Pew American Cities Project.  The funding shortfall has forced many cities, towns, counties and school districts to tighten their belts.

24/7 Wall St identified the eight states making the steepest cuts in funding to local governments. The website’s analysis of data from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and the U.S. Census Bureau suggests that these states were having their own budget problems as tax receipts shriveled in an anemic economy.

Read more: http://money.msn.com/investing/8-states-with-deepest-funding-cuts