Personality

Counting the counties with more animals than people

Several commonwealth counties boast more livestock than residents

Shorrocks/Getty Images; Antagain/Getty Images; Cappi Thompson/Getty Images; GlobalP/Getty Images

We know what they say about keeping all your eggs in one basket. Luckily for Pennsylvania’s diverse agricultural economy, commonwealth farmers have nothing to worry about. 

Farms keep stock of their live animals – from cows and pigs to chickens and turkeys – and share that information with the Department of Agriculture to help track the nation’s animal armory and farms’ functions. And in Pennsylvania, we’ve found that several counties boast larger livestock populations than resident populations. 

Straight from the horse’s mouth, and by that we mean the 2022 Ag Census data, we’ve got a county-by-county breakdown of the areas with more livestock than people.

Data Sources: 2022 Census of Agriculture, National Agriculture Statistical Service and 2022 Population Estimate, U.S. Census Bureau. Prepared by the Center for Rural Pennsylvania.
Photo credit: Cappi Thompson / Getty Images; Antagain / Getty Images; Shorrocks / Getty Images; GlobalP / Getty Images

Counties With More Chickens Than People

Adams - 588,694

Berks - 6,630,855

Chester - 312,717

Columbia - 205,985

Cumberland - 1,410,952

Dauphin - 1,380,090

Juniata - 2,362,535

Lancaster - 24,122,179

Lebanon - 10,666,879

Mifflin - 308,119

Montour - 681,582

Northumberland - 1,963,688

Perry - 1,315,601

Schuylkill - 2,961,818

Snyder - 3,449,266

Union - 2,838,502

York - 2,112,798


Counties With More Turkeys Than People

Adams - 394,532

Franklin - 308,370

Fulton - 67,697

Juniata - 119,181

Mifflin - 147,292

Perry - 121,236

Snyder - 177,194

Union - 343,005


Counties With More Hogs Than People

Fulton - 44,468
Mifflin - 69,457
Perry - 102,816
Syder - 71,285
Tioga - 60,945
Union - 70,632


Counties With More Cows Than People

Fulton - 15,275

Juniata - 23,738