Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 8,731, settled in 1824.
Carbondale gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $132K for a typical one, or 2 years of the Scranton metro’s $65K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 810th of 1032 graded towns in Pennsylvania. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 90% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top, and the median household income is $48K, and 26% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, crime is low: it reports less per resident than 90% of U.S. towns. 26% of residents live below the poverty line in Carbondale, above both the Pennsylvania town median (7.6%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 125 of Pennsylvania’s 1,749 towns score lower on health. Carbondale is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns.
Where Carbondale beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Census counts: 2,398 in 1840, a peak of 20,061 in 1930, 8,828 in 2020. The archive holds 30 old photos and papers going back to 1890 and 3 maps from 1946 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Carbondale is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Carbondale. Close and well known come first.
18 mi LakeLake Wallenpaupack
14 mi National Historic SiteSteamtown National Historic Site61K visitors a year
40 mi National park siteMiddle Delaware National Scenic River4.1M visitors a year11 mi Ski areaElk Mountain Ski Resort28 runs · 908 ft vertical
37 mi Ski areaCamelback Mountain Resort37 runs · 804 ft vertical
38 mi State parkHickory Run State ParkLake Wallenpaupack: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Steamtown National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · Middle Delaware National Scenic River: Mike Serfas, Public domain · Camelback Mountain Resort: Calzarette at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Hickory Run State Park: Mtruch, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Carbondale, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Carbondale.
Carbondale is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Pennsylvania (mostly inland flooding).
8.2 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The trail density in Carbondale is 2.6 miles per square mile.
| Carbondale | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 2.6 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.5% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Russell Park | 0.4 mi | 13 |
| 2. Pinchot State Forest | — | 5 |
| 3. West Side Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by Carbondale Area SD. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Carbondale Area JSHS, with 736 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carbondale El SchLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 755 | D |
| Carbondale Area JSHSLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 736 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Violent crime is rare: 7 reported in 2025, 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
Carbondale’s property crime rate is 3.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Carbondale | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.4 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 100% of Pennsylvania towns, with expected losses of about $677 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
Only 5 of the 1,037 Pennsylvania towns we compare have a higher FEMA risk score than Carbondale. Since 1979, 34 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Carbondale.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 4,918 U.S. towns with household incomes like Carbondale’s, it is less healthy than 54%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
Carbondale beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 13. 18% of adults report frequent physical distress in Carbondale.
| Carbondale | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 14% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 16% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 38% | 36% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Carbondale | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 25% | 14.5% |
| More uninsured adults | 9.5% | 5.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 11.3% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The average commute for its 3,621 working residents takes 19.4 minutes, against 26.3 across Pennsylvania.
Most working residents leave Carbondale for work: only 15% work in town. 4.7% of Carbondale workers work from home. Jobs based in Carbondale grew to 2,344 in 2023, 211 more than in 2013.
| Carbondale | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 4.7% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $48,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 15% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Carbondale has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 16° and about 47 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 2 years of the Scranton metro’s $65K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 90% of Pennsylvania towns; that ratio is one input to its B+ for cost of living.
The median sale price was $179,000 in May 2026.
| Carbondale | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 51% | 78% | 73% |
| Median rent | $660 a month | $1,116 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
8 within 15 miles of the center of Carbondale
About 4 of every 100 Carbondale residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
2.5% of the town is conserved land, across 3 parks and preserves.
22 notable people were born in Carbondale.
City in Pennsylvania, US
Carbondale is a city in Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. Carbondale is located approximately 15 miles due northeast of the city of Scranton in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The population was 8,828 at the 2020 census. The land area that became Carbondale was developed by William and Maurice Wurts, the founders of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, during the rise of the anthracite coal mining industry in the early 19th century. It was also a major terminal of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad. Carbondale was the site of the first deep vein anthracite coal mine in the United States, and was the site of the Carbondale mine fire which burned from 1946 to the early 1970s. Carbond…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Carbondale.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Carbondale | #810 | C+ | B+ | A | C | C− |
| Carbondale Township | — | — | B− | — | A− | B− |
| Fell Township | — | — | B | — | C | C |
Carbondale Township and Fell Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Carbondale Township and Fell Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Carbondale with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Carbondale grades C+ overall, better than 38% of U.S. towns and #810 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades C− for health, A for safety and C for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $132,000, 54% below the Pennsylvania typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
22 notable people were born here, including Joseph Bambera and Terry Pegula.
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