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 sqmi, of which 526 sqmi is land and 1.3 sqmi (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

Adjacent counties

National protected area

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 /mi2. There were 55,061 housing units at an average density of 105 /mi2. 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

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.

County commissioners

Other county offices

Police agencies

State senate

State House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

United States Senate

Politics

Voter registration

As of April 29, 2024, there are 77,491 registered voters in Blair County.

Education

Colleges and universities

Community, junior and technical colleges

Public school districts

Charter schools

Technology school

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

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