Luzerne is a very small borough located in the state of Pennsylvania. With a population of 2,722 people and just one neighborhood, Luzerne is the 542nd largest community in Pennsylvania. Luzerne has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic boroughs.
Unlike some boroughs where white-collar or blue-collar occupations dominate the local economy, Luzerne is neither predominantly one nor the other. Instead, it has a mixed workforce of both white- and blue-collar jobs. Overall, Luzerne is a borough of sales and office workers, service providers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Luzerne who work in management occupations (12.91%), office and administrative support (11.60%), and sales jobs (11.60%).
Also of interest is that Luzerne has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 8.51% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
One of the benefits of Luzerne is that there is very little traffic. The average commute to work is 17.56 minutes, which is substantially less than the national average. Not only does this mean that the drive to work is less aggravating, but noise and pollution levels are lower as a result.
Luzerne is a small borough, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.
The percentage of people in Luzerne with college degrees is quite a bit lower than the national average for cities and towns of 21.84%: just 12.51% of people over 25 have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree.
The per capita income in Luzerne in 2022 was $29,488, which is lower middle income relative to Pennsylvania and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $117,952 for a family of four. However, Luzerne contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Luzerne home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Luzerne residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Luzerne include German, Polish, Irish, Italian, and Lithuanian.
The most common language spoken in Luzerne is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Persian.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Lithuanian and Welsh ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 11.3% of this neighborhood's residents have Lithuanian ancestry and 7.2% have Welsh ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 15.8% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Polish at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 99.4% of the neighborhoods in America.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Luzerne are low income, making it among the lowest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 90.9% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 47.6% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 93.0% of U.S. neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the neighborhood, 37.2% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 26.3% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations (19.3%), and 17.2% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 98.5% of households. Some people also speak Polish (15.8%).
Culture is shared learned behavior. We learn it from our parents, their parents, our houses of worship, and much of our culture – our learned behavior – comes from our ancestors. That is why ancestry and ethnicity can be so interesting and important to understand: places with concentrations of people of one or more ancestries often express those shared learned behaviors and this gives each neighborhood its own culture. Even different neighborhoods in the same city can have drastically different cultures.
In the neighborhood in Luzerne, PA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (24.4%). There are also a number of people of Polish ancestry (19.2%), and residents who report Irish roots (16.8%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (13.4%), along with some Lithuanian ancestry residents (11.3%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (53.3% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (83.1%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.