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 region of the commonwealth.
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.
Contents
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)
Climate
Blair has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb).
Demographics
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 122,822. The median age was 44.3 years, with 19.8% of residents under the age of 18 and 22.3% of residents 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 96.3 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.9 males age 18 and over.
The racial makeup of the county was 92.5% White, 2.1% Black or African American, 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.6% from some other race, and 3.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.4% of the population.
74.3% of residents lived in urban areas, while 25.7% lived in rural areas.
There were 51,227 households in the county, of which 25.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 45.9% were married-couple households, 18.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 27.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 55,700 housing units, of which 8.0% were vacant. Among occupied housing units, 69.7% were owner-occupied and 30.3% were renter-occupied. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6% and the rental vacancy rate was 7.9%.
2000 census
As of the 2000 census, 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.
Law and government
Blair County has been a Republican Party stronghold since the party was founded. Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 and Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964 are the only Democratic presidential candidates to date to win the county (with neither taking more than 52% of the county's vote), although Theodore Roosevelt won it as the candidate of the Progressive Party in 1912. In 2016 and 2024, it played a crucial role in helping Donald Trump carry Pennsylvania.
County commissioners
David Kessling, chair, Republican
Laura Burke, Vice-chair, Democrat
Amy Webster, Secretary, Republican
Other county offices
Clerk of Courts and Prothonotary, Robin Patton, Republican
Controller, A.C. Stickel, Republican
Coroner, Ray Benton, Republican
District Attorney, Pete Weeks, Republican
Register of Wills and Recorder of Deeds, Anita Terchanik, Republican
Sheriff, James Ott, Republican
Treasurer, James Carothers, Republican
State senate
Judy Ward, Republican, Pennsylvania's 30th Senatorial District
State House of Representatives
Louis C. Schmitt Jr., Republican, Pennsylvania's 79th Representative District
Scott Barger, Republican, Pennsylvania's 80th Representative District
United States House of Representatives
John Joyce, Republican, Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district
United States Senate
John Fetterman, Democrat
David McCormick, Republican
Voter registration
As of April 23, 2025 there are 81,144 registered voters in Blair County.
Republican: 50,735 (62.52%)
Democratic: 19,699 (24.28%)
Independent: 7,946 (9.79%)
Third party: 2,764 (3.41%)
Education
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
School districts include:
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
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
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 2020 census of Blair County.
† county seat