New Columbus is a borough that is located in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 219 at the time of the 2020 census.
History
A small farming town that is located in western Luzerne County (just south of Ricketts Glen State Park), New Columbus was first settled in 1819. It was later incorporated as a borough in 1859.
The community has changed little since its founding; farming is still a major way of life for most of the borough.
There are small clusters of houses scattered throughout the borough; most of the community consists of farmland. Downtown New Columbus, which consists of a few homes and businesses, is located at the intersection of Old Tioga Turnpike and Academy Street. According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 3.1 square miles (7.9 km), all of it land.
As of the census of 2000, there were 215 people, 86 households, and 63 families residing in the borough. The population density was 68.1 inhabitants per square mile (26.3/km). There were 96 housing units at an average density of 30.4 per square mile (11.7/km).
The racial makeup of the borough was 100.00% white. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.40% of the population.
There were eighty-six households, out of which 31.4% had children under the age of eighteen living with them, with 60.5% living together as married couples, 9.3% documented as a female householder with no husband present, and 25.6% which were documented as non-families. Additionally, individuals 22.1% of all households were made up of individuals with 11.6% that had someone living alone who was sixty-five years of age or older.
The average household size was 2.5 and the average family size was 2.94.
Within the borough, the population was spread out, with 25.1% of residents who were under the age of eighteen, 5.1% who were aged eighteen to twenty-four, 31.2% who were aged twenty-five to forty-four, 18.6% who were aged forty-five to sixty-four, and 20.0% who were sixty-five years of age or older.
The median age of residents was thirty-six years. For every one hundred females there were eighty-seven males. For every one hundred females who were aged eighteen or older, there were roughly ninety-six males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $38,594, and the median income for a family was $39,844. Males had a median income of $31,250 compared with that of $21,071 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $15,981.
Only 2.7% of the population lived below the poverty line. None of those living in poverty were under the age of eighteen or living with families; however, 8.7% of those who were documented as impoverished were aged sixty-four or older.
As of 2017, the population of New Columbus was 222.
