Welcome to Harrisburg ...

The city of Harrisburg is located in Dauphin County<1>. It is the County Seat and the capital of Pennsylvania.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Harrisburg, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1803.

When the people of Harrisburg refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Harrisburger<2>

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Harrisburg has a population of 49,241 people<3> (see below for details).

Harrisburg is 340 feet [104 m] above sea level.<4>.

Time Zone: Harrisburg lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

The telephone area code for Harrisburg: (717)

Websites for Harrisburg ...

Official Website: www.harrisburgcity.com/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Harrisburg had an population of 49,241 people. This is a decrease of 0.58% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 0.59% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Harrisburg had a population of 49,528 people (or 18.46% of the total population of Dauphin County). This makes Harrisburg the county's most populous community.

The population of Harrisburg represents 0.39% of the population of Pennsylvania (which has 12,702,379 people), making it the state's 9th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 49,528 people, the population of Harrisburg increased 1.18% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 48,950 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Harrisburg.

Communities Also Named Harrisburg ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are two Pennsylvania communities named Harrisburg: This one is located in Dauphin County and the other is located in Philadelphia County.

Beyond Pennsylvania, there are 44 communities that are also named Harrisburg - they are located in Alabama (2), Arizona (2), Arkansas, California, Colorado (2), Florida, Georgia (3), Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas (2), Maryland, Michigan, Missouri (2), Nebraska, New Mexico, New York (3), North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio (4), Oklahoma, Ontario, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas (2), Utah and Virginia.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Harrisburg.

Communities near Harrisburg ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Harrisburg.

• Carlisle
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carlisle
  • Carlisle is located in Cumberland County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 19,213 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carlisle <5>
• Elizabethtown
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Elizabethtown have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elizabethtown
  • Elizabethtown is located in Lancaster County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 11,494 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Elizabethtown <5>
• Middletown
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middletown
  • Middletown is located in Dauphin County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,623 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Middletown <5>
• Mechanicsburg
  (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mechanicsburg
  • Mechanicsburg is located in Cumberland County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 9,017 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mechanicsburg <5>
• Palmyra
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Palmyra have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Palmyra
  • Palmyra is located in Lebanon County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 7,528 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Palmyra <5>
• Hummelstown
  (9 miles [14.5 km] to the east)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Hummelstown have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Hummelstown
  • Hummelstown is located in Dauphin County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 4,814 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Hummelstown <5>
• Manchester
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Manchester
  • Manchester is located in York County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,766 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Manchester <5>
• Dillsburg
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Dillsburg have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Dillsburg
  • Dillsburg is located in York County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,579 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Dillsburg <5>
• Millersburg
  (18 miles [29 km] to the north)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Millersburg have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersburg
  • Millersburg is located in Dauphin County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,514 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Millersburg <5>
• Highspire
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Highspire have been provided by the GNIS.<6> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Highspire
  • Highspire is located in Dauphin County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,369 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Highspire <5>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Harrisburg. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Harrisburg.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Harrisburg. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Harrisburg.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Harrisburg. Our list includes 176 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Harrisburg.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Harrisburg ...

Looking for more information about Harrisburg? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Harrisburg, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Harrisburg.

Adding Harrisburg to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Harrisburg in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Harrisburg was in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (1803).

We also found Harrisburg in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Harrisburg.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Harrisburg: www.harrisburgcity.com/

The official website for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/