State game bird
Ruffed grouse
Sources: Designation & background
Local timeHarrisburg ·
U.S. States / Northeast · Card 038
Pennsylvania
The Keystone State
The Delaware Water Gap is a passage cut by the Delaware River through a mountain ridge on the Pennsylvania–New Jersey border.
Pennsylvania and its surroundings
● State capital · Gold highlights Pennsylvania.
Map: Natural Earth. Neighboring states use postal abbreviations.
Map: Natural Earth. Neighboring states use postal abbreviations.
At a glance
- Capital
- Harrisburg
- Postal abbreviation
- PA
- Population
- 13,059,432July 1, 2025 · Census estimate
- Total area
- 119,280 km²46,054 square miles · land and water
- Constitution ratified
- December 12, 1787One of the original thirteen states
- Region
- Northeast
Sources: Census · population · Census · area
State symbols & traditions
State song
Pennsylvania
Sources: Designation & background
Geography & flag
01
Location
Neighboring states: Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, West Virginia.
02
Landscape & places
The Delaware Water Gap is a passage cut by the Delaware River through a mountain ridge on the Pennsylvania–New Jersey border. The surrounding recreation area protects a longer river corridor with woods, historic places and opportunities to study erosion.
03
Land and water
The total area includes 115,883 km² of land and 3,397 km² of water, according to Census area measurements.
State flag
The state coat of arms on blue, with two horses supporting a shield and an eagle above.
Sources: Census · geographic reference · Census · area measurements · National Park Service · Delaware Water Gap
How the landscape works
At Delaware Water Gap, the river crosses a mountain ridge and continues through a larger protected corridor. A viewpoint shows one feature; the corridor includes connected woods, historic sites, and waterways. Understanding the river means looking beyond the narrowest part of the gap to the landscape that supplies and receives its water.
History
What caused the Johnstown Flood
The South Fork Dam held a reservoir upstream from Johnstown. Heavy rain in May 1889 raised the water level until it overtopped the dam. The structure failed on May 31, releasing a destructive surge through communities downstream.
The flood reached Johnstown in less than an hour and caused catastrophic loss of life and property. The disaster was not simply ordinary river flooding: a large volume of stored water had suddenly escaped. The surviving dam remains help explain how engineering choices and the location of settlements can affect the consequences of extreme weather.
Read more: Historical source ↗
Why this mattered
The Johnstown Flood followed the failure of the South Fork Dam during heavy rain in 1889. Rain was a trigger, but the dam’s condition and alterations matter to explaining why the disaster became so severe. Distinguishing a natural event from human decisions about infrastructure makes the story more informative than labeling it simply bad weather.
Key dates
-
Pennsylvania charter granted
-
Constitution ratified · One of the original thirteen states
-
Erie Triangle acquired
Sources: Congressional Research Service · statehood · U.S. Census Bureau · historical geography · National Park Service
People and place
Indigenous history and communities today
The Delaware Tribe of Indians’ history includes Lenape homelands in the East, including Pennsylvania, and a present-day government in Oklahoma. The name of a modern state is not a complete account of Lenape geography.
Continue with Delaware Tribe of Indians. This is one starting point, not a complete account of the peoples connected to this land.
Compare
Pennsylvania and Delaware
| Measure | Pennsylvania | Delaware |
|---|---|---|
| Population (2025) | 13,059,432 | 1,059,952 |
| Land area (km²) | 115,883 | 5,047 |
| People per km² of land | 112.7 | 210.0 |
Delaware has more people per square kilometer of land. Population density divides population by land area. It is an average across the whole jurisdiction, not a claim that residents are evenly spread out.
Calculated from the Census population series and land-area measurements used on these pages. Rounded figures; water area is excluded. Explore Delaware.
Economy
Main activities
In 2025, professional and business services was the largest of the broad industry groups compared here by current-dollar output. Other major groups included educational services, health care, and social assistance, real estate and rental and leasing, and manufacturing.
Total economic output was $1,056.4 billion in current dollars in 2025.
Largest industry groups · 2025
- Professional and business services: 14.1%
- Educational services, health care, and social assistance: 13.2%
- Real estate and rental and leasing: 12.8%
- Manufacturing: 10.3%
Share of total current-dollar GDP. These figures measure output, not employment.
Sources: BEA · annual GDP by state, SAGDP2
Production, jobs and wages answer different questions
The industry chart measures the value of production. It does not count workers. An industry with a large share of GDP need not employ the most people or pay the highest wages. Employment and wage data would be needed to answer those questions.
Population & economic trends
Population, 2020–2025
Millions of people13.062025 · millions of people
July 1 resident population estimates, using the Census Bureau’s Vintage 2025 series.
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau
View data table
| Year | People |
|---|---|
| 2020 | 12,995,576 |
| 2021 | 13,016,628 |
| 2022 | 12,984,655 |
| 2023 | 13,009,406 |
| 2024 | 13,045,848 |
| 2025 | 13,059,432 |
Real GDP, 2010–2025
Billions of chained 2017 dollars818.792025 · billions of chained 2017 dollars
Real GDP measures economic output adjusted for inflation. The chart uses BEA’s chained 2017 dollars.
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
View data table
| Year | Millions of chained 2017 dollars |
|---|---|
| 2010 | 666,805.8 |
| 2011 | 676,468.3 |
| 2012 | 689,007.0 |
| 2013 | 704,195.0 |
| 2014 | 718,691.6 |
| 2015 | 734,145.1 |
| 2016 | 744,847.1 |
| 2017 | 754,318.0 |
| 2018 | 763,855.4 |
| 2019 | 771,852.5 |
| 2020 | 738,176.1 |
| 2021 | 766,140.0 |
| 2022 | 776,824.7 |
| 2023 | 789,918.5 |
| 2024 | 803,232.5 |
| 2025 | 818,787.5 |
Read the trend, then ask what explains it
Pennsylvania’s population increased by about 0.5% between 2020 and 2025 in this series. That shows the size of the change. The chart alone cannot tell us how much came from births, deaths or migration.
Real GDP adjusts for changes in prices, so it helps compare production over time. Current-dollar GDP includes price changes. Neither measure tells us how income is distributed among residents.
Representation
- Electoral votes
- 192024 & 2028 elections
- Voting U.S. House seats
- 172020 Census allocation
- U.S. Senate seats
- 2
Electoral votes equal the state’s U.S. House seats plus its two U.S. Senate seats. These allocations apply to the 2024 and 2028 presidential elections.
Practice
Test your knowledge
Use the explanations and data on this page to answer ten questions. Hints and links to the relevant sections are available throughout.
10 questions about Pennsylvania
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Sources & notes
Narrative and quiz updated 5 October 2026. Statistical data prepared 27 September 2026. Population: Census Bureau Vintage 2025, July 1 estimates for 2020–2025. Real GDP: BEA annual state accounts, SAGDP9, millions of chained 2017 dollars; industry shares: SAGDP2, current dollars. Data downloaded 27 September 2026. Area measurements include land and water.
Sources: Census · population estimates · BEA · state GDP · Census · area measurements · Natural Earth · map data
The capital clock shows current local time. Statistical figures are dated estimates and may be revised.
Updated 29 October 2026. Statistics retain the dated series shown in the charts; these are not live figures. Sources are linked beside each topic.