State of the Economy: Somerset County

Somerset County, Pennsylvania, is home to 73,447 residents. Between 2010 and 2018 (the most recent year data was available), the population decreased by about 5 percent, falling from 77,626 residents.

Compared to Pennsylvania overall, Somerset County has a somewhat older population, with the median age at 46.8 years, just above the state median of 40.7. Families in Somerset County earn less than the typical family in the Commonwealth. In 2018, the median household income for Somerset County was $48,224 compared to $56,951 for the Commonwealth. Approximately 12.0 percent of individuals in Lawrence County fall below the poverty line.

While the Shale Gas Knowledge Hub’s State of the Economy series has focused on providing employment and wage data for oil and natural gas support activities, the data for Somerset County was not available. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which supplies the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (QCEW), the source of these reports, the data were not available because of reliability issues in reporting or missing information.

Given the lack of data, it is unclear how oil and natural gas support activities have impacted the County.