Clarion County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 37,241. Its county seat is Clarion. The county was formed on March 11, 1839, from parts of Venango and Armstrong counties. Clarion County is entirely defined as part of the Pittsburgh media market. The county is part of the North Central region of the commonwealth.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (1.5%) is water. It has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Dfb), and average temperatures in Clarion borough range from 24.5 ðF in January to 82 ðF in July. Clarion County is one of the 423 counties served by the Appalachian Regional Commission, and it is identified as part of the "Midlands" by Colin Woodard in his book American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America.
Part of Cook Forest State Park is in Clarion County.
The Clarion County Park is located in Paint Township. Clarion County Veterans Memorial Park is located directly across Main Street (Route 322) from the Clarion County Courthouse in the center of the Borough of Clarion.
As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 37,241, a population density of , 15,298 households, and 10,738 families residing in the county. The median age was 43.6 years, 19.5% of residents were under the age of 18, 21.6% were 65 years of age or older, there were 95.6 males for every 100 females, and there were 93.1 males for every 100 females age 18 and over.
Of the 15,298 households in the county, 24.6% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 49.5% were married-couple households, 18.6% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 24.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present; about 30.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 18,829 housing units, of which 18.8% were vacant, 71.5% of the occupied units were owner-occupied, and 28.5% were renter-occupied; the homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5% and the rental vacancy rate was 11.5%.
15.2% of residents lived in urban areas, while 84.8% lived in rural areas.
The racial makeup of the county was 94.4% White, 1.5% Black or African American, 0.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.5% Asian, <0.1% Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander, 0.5% from some other race, and 3.0% from two or more races; Hispanic or Latino residents of any race comprised 1.0% of the population.
As of February 6, 2024, there are 23,414 registered voters in Clarion County.
Public school districts and private schools in the county are served by Riverview Intermediate Unit IU6 which provides special education and professional development services.
Clarion County Career Center is located along State Route 66 in Marianne (Shippenville address).
Under Pennsylvania law, there are four types of incorporated municipalities: cities, boroughs, townships, and, in at most two cases, towns. The following boroughs and townships are located in Clarion County:
The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2020 census of Clarion County.
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