Most African American cities in Pennsylvania research summary. We used Saturday Night Science to analyze Pennsylvania’s most recent Census data to determine the cities with the largest Black population, based on the percentage of Black residents.
The city with the largest African American population in Pennsylvania is Yeadon (84.1% Black); the least is Lehighton (0.0%). Statewide, Pennsylvania is 10.3% Black — the 20th blackest state in the country.
Roughly 42 million people identifying as Black or African American live in the United States, about 12% of the total population. In Pennsylvania, the Black population is 1,336,493, at 10.3% of the state total.
We broke down the most recent Census data to determine the cities in Pennsylvania with the largest African American population in 2026.
#1 most African American in Pennsylvania
Located in
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Yeadon is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. It borders the city of Philadelphia. The population was 11,443 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#2 most African American in Pennsylvania
Located in
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#3 most African American in Pennsylvania
Located in
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#4 most African American in Pennsylvania
Located in
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Chester is a city in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a population of 33,972 at the 2010 census. Incorporated in 1682, Chester sits on the western bank of the Delaware River between the cities of Philadelphia and Wilmington, Delaware.
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#5 most African American in Pennsylvania
Located in
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#6 most African American in Pennsylvania
Located in
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#7 most African American in Pennsylvania
Located in
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Folcroft is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 6,606 at the 2010 census, down from 6,978 at the 2000 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#8 most African American in Pennsylvania
Located in
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Wilkinsburg is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States adjacent to the city of Pittsburgh. The population was 15,930 at the 2010 census, having lost more than 13,000 in the 70 years since 1940, when 29,853 people were enumerated. The borough was named for John Wilkins, Jr., a United States Army officer who served as Quartermaster General of the United States Army from 1796 to 1802.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#9 most African American in Pennsylvania
Located in
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Duquesne is a city along the Monongahela River in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, within the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The population was 5,565 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
#10 most African American in Pennsylvania
Located in
Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
Clairton is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Monongahela River. It is part of the Pittsburgh Metropolitan Area. The population was 6,796 at the 2010 census. Under Pennsylvania legal classifications for local governments, Clairton is considered a third-class city. It is home to Clairton Works, the largest coke manufacturing facility in the United States.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Pennsylvania’s statewide median.
On the map
Where Pennsylvania’s Black communities live
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Determined The Cities In Pennsylvania With The Largest Black Population For 2026
We still believe in the accuracy of data — especially from the Census. So that’s where we went to get the race breakdown across Pennsylvania.
That leads us to the Census’s most recently available data, the 2020-2024 American Community Survey data from the US Census.
Specifically, we looked at table B03002: Hispanic OR LATINO ORIGIN BY RACE. Here are the category names as defined by the Census:
- Hispanic or Latino
- White alone*
- Black or African American alone*
- American Indian and Alaska Native alone*
- Asian alone*
- Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone*
- Some other race alone*
- Two or more races*
Our particular column of interest was the number of people who identified as Black or African American.
We limited our analysis to non-CDPs with a population greater than 5,000 people in Pennsylvania. That left us with 184 cities.
We then calculated the percentage of residents that are Black or African American. The percentages ranked from 84.1% to 0.0%.
Finally, we ranked each city based on the percentage of the Black population, with a higher score being more Black than a lower score. Yeadon took the distinction of being the most Black, while Lehighton was the least African American city.
We updated this article for 2026. This is our eleventh time ranking the cities in Pennsylvania with the largest African American population.
The full plate
African American Population By City In Pennsylvania
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Population | African American Population | % African American |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yeadon | 12,181 | 10,248 | 84.1% |
| 2 | Darby | 10,687 | 8,982 | 84.0% |
| 3 | Sharon Hill | 6,002 | 4,509 | 75.1% |
| 4 | Chester | 33,619 | 23,697 | 70.5% |
| 5 | Collingdale | 8,897 | 5,093 | 57.2% |
| 6 | Lansdowne | 11,122 | 5,477 | 49.2% |
| 7 | Folcroft | 6,772 | 3,213 | 47.4% |
| 8 | Wilkinsburg | 14,027 | 6,475 | 46.2% |
| 9 | Duquesne | 5,149 | 2,327 | 45.2% |
| 10 | Clairton | 6,044 | 2,655 | 43.9% |
| 11 | Steelton | 6,296 | 2,596 | 41.2% |
| 12 | Harrisburg | 50,287 | 20,570 | 40.9% |
| 13 | Clifton Heights | 6,832 | 2,651 | 38.8% |
| 14 | Philadelphia | 1,579,706 | 605,533 | 38.3% |
| 15 | McKeesport | 17,380 | 6,198 | 35.7% |
| 16 | Aliquippa | 9,079 | 3,150 | 34.7% |
| 17 | Turtle Creek | 5,007 | 1,654 | 33.0% |
| 18 | Coatesville | 13,353 | 4,325 | 32.4% |
| 19 | Norri | 35,893 | 11,126 | 31.0% |
| 20 | Swissvale | 8,418 | 2,414 | 28.7% |
| 21 | York | 44,938 | 10,850 | 24.1% |
| 22 | Beaver Falls | 8,850 | 2,126 | 24.0% |
| 23 | Pott | 23,476 | 5,312 | 22.6% |
| 24 | Pittsburgh | 304,759 | 67,304 | 22.1% |
| 25 | McKees Rocks | 5,786 | 1,277 | 22.1% |
| 26 | Ambridge | 6,890 | 1,338 | 19.4% |
| 27 | East Stroudsburg | 9,319 | 1,789 | 19.2% |
| 28 | Monessen | 6,780 | 1,273 | 18.8% |
| 29 | Sharon | 12,936 | 2,287 | 17.7% |
| 30 | Glenolden | 7,220 | 1,238 | 17.1% |
| 31 | Erie | 93,850 | 15,252 | 16.3% |
| 32 | Easton | 29,739 | 4,833 | 16.3% |
| 33 | Coraopolis | 5,417 | 878 | 16.2% |
| 34 | Uniontown | 9,742 | 1,525 | 15.7% |
| 35 | Washington | 13,368 | 2,009 | 15.0% |
| 36 | Prospect Park | 6,417 | 944 | 14.7% |
| 37 | Ambler | 6,847 | 939 | 13.7% |
| 38 | Wilson | 8,183 | 1,107 | 13.5% |
| 39 | New Brighton | 5,567 | 752 | 13.5% |
| 40 | West Chester | 20,666 | 2,780 | 13.5% |
| 41 | Munhall | 10,548 | 1,415 | 13.4% |
| 42 | Johnstown | 18,087 | 2,387 | 13.2% |
| 43 | Downin | 8,255 | 1,074 | 13.0% |
| 44 | Forest Hills | 6,286 | 777 | 12.4% |
| 45 | Lancaster | 57,719 | 6,922 | 12.0% |
| 46 | Williamsport | 27,612 | 3,305 | 12.0% |
| 47 | Brentwood | 9,866 | 1,170 | 11.9% |
| 48 | Morrisville | 9,752 | 1,156 | 11.9% |
| 49 | Kingston | 13,397 | 1,510 | 11.3% |
| 50 | Stroudsburg | 5,894 | 651 | 11.0% |
| 51 | New Castle | 21,579 | 2,324 | 10.8% |
| 52 | Carnegie | 7,978 | 813 | 10.2% |
| 53 | Crafton | 5,961 | 606 | 10.2% |
| 54 | Swarthmore | 6,550 | 657 | 10.0% |
| 55 | Allentown | 125,976 | 12,357 | 9.8% |
| 56 | Wilkes-Barre | 44,423 | 4,317 | 9.7% |
| 57 | Jeannette | 8,657 | 840 | 9.7% |
| 58 | Carlisle | 21,852 | 2,068 | 9.5% |
| 59 | Bellevue | 8,128 | 742 | 9.1% |
| 60 | Nanticoke | 10,653 | 964 | 9.0% |
| 61 | New Kensington | 12,011 | 1,035 | 8.6% |
| 62 | White Oak | 7,468 | 633 | 8.5% |
| 63 | Bethlehem | 77,956 | 6,401 | 8.2% |
| 64 | Columbia | 10,278 | 790 | 7.7% |
| 65 | Reading | 95,242 | 7,312 | 7.7% |
| 66 | Ridley Park | 7,261 | 542 | 7.5% |
| 67 | West Mifflin | 19,190 | 1,404 | 7.3% |
| 68 | Plymouth | 5,770 | 409 | 7.1% |
| 69 | Chambersburg | 22,319 | 1,552 | 7.0% |
| 70 | Scranton | 76,033 | 4,995 | 6.6% |
| 71 | Hatboro | 8,283 | 525 | 6.3% |
| 72 | Brookhaven | 8,331 | 526 | 6.3% |
| 73 | Pleasant Hills | 8,399 | 512 | 6.1% |
| 74 | Middl | 9,632 | 580 | 6.0% |
| 75 | Franklin | 5,984 | 360 | 6.0% |
| 76 | Exeter | 5,541 | 327 | 5.9% |
| 77 | Lansdale | 19,011 | 1,102 | 5.8% |
| 78 | Dormont | 8,063 | 453 | 5.6% |
| 79 | Red Lion | 6,516 | 358 | 5.5% |
| 80 | Connellsville | 6,849 | 367 | 5.4% |
| 81 | Indiana | 14,212 | 761 | 5.4% |
| 82 | Collegeville | 5,247 | 280 | 5.3% |
| 83 | Canonsburg | 9,675 | 502 | 5.2% |
| 84 | Conshohocken | 9,282 | 475 | 5.1% |
| 85 | New Holland | 5,780 | 290 | 5.0% |
| 86 | Somerset | 5,944 | 291 | 4.9% |
| 87 | Lewisburg | 5,257 | 234 | 4.5% |
| 88 | Whitehall | 14,811 | 644 | 4.3% |
| 89 | Gettysburg | 8,254 | 348 | 4.2% |
| 90 | Berwick | 10,317 | 424 | 4.1% |
| 91 | Meadville | 12,577 | 503 | 4.0% |
| 92 | Millersville | 8,982 | 355 | 4.0% |
| 93 | Plum | 26,723 | 1,034 | 3.9% |
| 94 | Selinsgrove | 5,593 | 215 | 3.8% |
| 95 | Moosic | 5,973 | 227 | 3.8% |
| 96 | New Cumberland | 7,580 | 288 | 3.8% |
| 97 | Shippensburg | 5,620 | 212 | 3.8% |
| 98 | State College | 41,050 | 1,538 | 3.7% |
| 99 | Pittston | 7,626 | 283 | 3.7% |
| 100 | Phoenixville | 19,452 | 720 | 3.7% |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. 184 cities with more than 5,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: Black Populations Across Pennsylvania
If you’re looking for a breakdown of African American populations across Pennsylvania according to the most recent data, this is an accurate list.
The blackest cities in Pennsylvania are Yeadon, Darby, Sharon Hill, Chester, Collingdale, Lansdowne, Folcroft, Wilkinsburg, Duquesne, and Clairton. Not sold on Pennsylvania? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
