Blair County, Pennsylvania facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Blair County
U.S. county
Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg
Flag Seal
Location within the U.S. state of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Pennsylvania
Founded	February 26, 1846
Seat	Hollidaysburg
Largest city	Altoona
Area
• Total	527 sq mi (1,360 km2)
• Land	526 sq mi (1,360 km2)
• Water	1.3 sq mi (3 km2)  0.2%
Population  (2020)
• Total	122,822
• Density	234/sq mi (90/km2)
Time zone	UTC−5 (Eastern)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−4 (EDT)
Congressional district	13th
Pennsylvania Historical Marker
Designated:	April 13, 1982

Blair County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 122,822. Its county seat is Hollidaysburg, and its largest city is Altoona. The county was created on February 26, 1846, from parts of Huntingdon and Bedford counties. The county is part of the Southwest Pennsylvania region of the state.

Blair County comprises the Altoona, PA metropolitan statistical area. It is also part of the Altoona-Huntingdon, PA Combined Statistical Area, which includes Blair and Huntingdon counties.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 527 square miles (1,360 km²), of which 526 square miles (1,360 km²) is land and 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²) (0.2%) is water. Blair County is one of the 423 counties served by the Appalachian Regional Commission, and it is identified as part of "Greater Appalachia" by Colin Woodard in his book American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America.

Features

• Brush Mountain
• Logan Valley
• Morrison Cove
• Tussey Mountain

Adjacent counties

• Centre County (north)
• Huntingdon County (east)
• Bedford County (south)
• Cambria County (west)
• Clearfield County (northwest)

National protected area

• Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site (part)

Major highways

Climate

Blair has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb).

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 127,089 people and 52,159 households within the county. The population density was 246 people per square mile (95 people/km²). There were 55,061 housing units at an average density of 105 units per square mile (41/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 96.18% White, 1.68% Black or African American, 0.11% Native American, 0.56% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.23% from other races, and 1.22% from two or more races. 0.97% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 40.0% were of German, 12.2% Irish, 10.7% Italian, 9.9% American, and 6.0% English ancestry.

There were 52,159 households, out of which 28.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.60% were married couples living together, 11.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.30% were non-families. 27.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.96.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 21.1% under the age of 18, 3.5% from 18 to 19, 5.9% from 20 to 24, 11.1% from 25 to 34, 19.3% from 35 to 49, 21.4% from 50 to 64, and 17.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. The population was 48.55% male and 51.45% female.

2020 census

Education

Map of Blair County, Pennsylvania School Districts

Colleges and universities

• Penn State Altoona

Community, junior and technical colleges

• South Hills School of Business and Technology
• YTI Career Institute
• Pennsylvania Highlands Community College

Public school districts

• Altoona Area School District
• Bellwood-Antis School District
• Claysburg-Kimmel School District (also in Bedford County)
• Hollidaysburg Area School District
• Penn Cambria School District (also in Cambria County)
• Spring Cove School District
• Tyrone Area School District (also in Centre and Huntingdon Counties)
• Williamsburg Community School District

Charter schools

• Agora Cyber Charter School
• Central Pennsylvania Digital Learning Foundation Charter School (K-12). Altoona.

Technology school

• Greater Altoona Career and Technology Center - Altoona

Private schools

Data taken from Pennsylvania EdNA - PDE database of public private schools 2012

Libraries

Blair County hosts a system of nine libraries that can be accessed with one library card. Resource sharing exists between the eight libraries. Books from any of the eight system libraries can be placed on hold and delivered to a patron's home library and then returned to any of the eight libraries in the system.

Recreation

There is one Pennsylvania state park in Blair County, Canoe Creek State Park in Frankstown Township.

Communities

Map of Blair County, Pennsylvania, with municipal labels showing cities and boroughs (red), townships (white), and census-designated places (blue)

Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities: cities, boroughs, townships, and, in at most two cases, towns. The following cities, boroughs and townships are located in Blair County:

City

• Altoona

Boroughs

Townships

Census-designated places

Census-designated places are geographical areas designated by the U.S. Census Bureau for the purposes of compiling demographic data. They are unincorporated communities and not actual jurisdictions under Pennsylvania law.

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Blair County.

† county seat

See also

In Spanish: Condado de Blair para niños