Housing

The Housing section of this report examines the indicators that reflect the state of the housing market in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Addressing housing has become a significant regional priority due to limited development and considerable blight. Currently, there is a shortage of housing available at various price points. Although the rate of cost increases has slowed since the pandemic's peak, housing security remains unattainable for many residents.

Housing is a crucial social determinant of health. Individuals without stable and affordable housing often experience worse physical and mental health outcomes, and their housing situation can impact their ability to maintain consistent employment. For children, unstable housing can negatively affect academic performance. Consequently, housing has broader implications for the economy, the workforce and its pipeline, the health and social services sectors, and crime rates.

As of 2024, there were 296,531 housing units in all four counties (up from 295,937the prior year). Housing stock in Lackawanna, Luzerne, and Wyoming Counties is predominantly older, and owner-occupied. About half the housing units in Wayne County were built before 1980, most of which are owner-occupied. Wayne County also has a much higher residential vacancy rate, likely influenced by the presence of seasonally occupied homes, vacation rentals, hunting cabins, and the like.

For-sale inventory was already trending downward before the pandemic, indicating a tightening housing market (i.e., a seller’s market), and the pandemic accelerated this trend. In 2025, the average total of for-sale inventory in the region increased for the first time in observed years. Additionally, home values in most counties in the region saw more growth from 2018 to 2025 than in the previous decade. Market rents have also risen accordingly, with mid-market rent increasing in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metro area faster than observed nationwide for most years.

Historically, housing has been fairly affordable in Northeastern Pennsylvania. As of the latest available data, the median monthly ownership costs (including mortgage payment, property taxes, and other costs of homeownership) as a percentage of median household income for owner-occupied households were lower than 2010 proportions in all four counties and statewide. Conversely, as of 2024, rental costs as a percentage of the median household income for renters have increased in all analyzed regions. Compared to renters, homeowners tend to spend less of their monthly incomes on housing costs.

When a household spends more than 30.0 percent of its income on housing , it is considered cost burdened. These trends in the real estate market suggest significant implications regarding the need for new efforts to ensure access to affordable housing. Affordable housing should not be construed as meaning low-income housing only. Many people working full-time jobs in a variety of occupations, such as education, health care, manufacturing, etc., cannot afford some of the market prices. In 2024, foreclosures in the four-county region decreased by 12.7 percent from the previous year.

Finally, homelessness remains a challenge in this region, as with virtually all communities in the United States. With counts altered due to the pandemic, there are gaps in the data showing the impact of COVID-19 on homelessness in the area. Across the Commonwealth, in the eastern PA COC and Lackawanna County, more than 20.0 percent of all homeless households counted in 2024 were unsheltered, compared to just over five percent in Luzerne County. Compared to the Commonwealth’s 20.4 percent, larger shares of the region’s unhoused population consist of children (23.3 percent average). Homelessness includes individuals without permanent housing, even those staying with relatives. Data regarding homelessness is still a challenge nationally, with 2025 data being unavailable except for the Eastern Pennsylvania COC, which contains Wayne and Wyoming Counties.