Community Profile: Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Hazleton, PA, MA (Columbia County, Lackawanna County, Luzerne County, and Wyoming County)

Executive Summary

Demographics

According to the 2000 census, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton, PA MA had a population of 624,776, representing a 14.9 percent decrease from 1990. The state of Pennsylvania’s population increased 3.4 percent during the same time period.
The racial composition in 2000 was 96.8 percent white, 1.4 percent black, 1.2 percent of Hispanic origin, 0.6 percent Asian, 0.6 percent of other races, and 0.6 percent of people who reported two or more races.
The number of households in the MSA was 252,582, and the number of families was 164,330.
The median age of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton, PA MA residents was 40.2 years in 2000. The median age of the state of Pennsylvania’s residents was 38 years.
According to the 2000 census, in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton, PA MA, 69.9 percent of the housing units were owner-occupied, compared with 71.3 percent for the state of Pennsylvania.
In 2000, 18.9 percent of the population of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton, PA MA was at least 65 years old, compared with 15.6 percent in the entire state.
While the white population in Pennsylvania decreased by 0.34 percent between 1990 and 2000, it declined by 16.1 percent in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton, PA MA.
The year-round vacancy rate in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton, PA MA was 7.5 percent in 2000, compared with 6.2 percent for Pennsylvania.

HMDA and CRA Loan Data

In 2001, the approval rates for home-purchase applications for conventional one- to four-unit residential mortgages were lowest for low-income applicants and increased by income of applicant. Approval rates for conventional one- to four-unit residential mortgages were 46.1 percent, 52.8 percent, 62.9 percent, and 75.7 percent, respectively. Government approval rates followed the same pattern; 75.3 percent, 84.5 percent, 88.1 percent, and 91.2 percent, respectively.
In 2001, refinances of existing mortgages represented 53.6 percent of all HMDA-reportable loans, up from 35.5 percent in 2000. The approval rate for refinances by low-income applicants was 33.3 percent, moderate income was 40 percent, middle income was 44.9 percent, and upper income was 53.3 percent. When sorted by census tract income, approval rates for refinances were 61.5 percent in low-income tracts, 36.2 percent in moderate-income tracts, 44.2 percent in middle-income tracts, and 54.4 percent in upper-income tracts.
In 2001, approval rates for home-improvement loans varied widely by tract income. 70 percent of applications from low-income census tracts were approved, compared with 48.4 percent from moderate-income tracts, 55.4 percent from middle-income tracts, and 61.2 percent from upper-income tracts.
For all HMDA-reportable applications, approval rates for blacks, and Hispanics rose each year while the approval rates for whites dipped in 2000 but recovered in 2001. Approval rates were 63.7 percent, 35 percent, and 40.8 percent, respectively, in 1999; 61.1 percent, 46.7 percent, and 43.1 percent, respectively in 2000; and 67.8 percent, 49 percent, and 58.8 percent, respectively in 2001.
In 1999, 2000, and 2001, low- and moderate-income borrowers represented 27 percent, 29.3 percent, and 24.5 percent, respectively, of all reported HMDA originations for which income was available.
For 1999, 2000, and 2001 financial institutions reported a total of 30,775 small-business and small-farm loans originated in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton, PA MA. This represented $1,443,252,000 in financing. Approximately 43.5 percent of the loans over the three years were made to businesses and farms with gross annual revenues of $1 million or less, and 90.4 percent of the loans were for $100,000 or less.
The percentage of all small-business loans in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton, PA MA that were originated in LMI census tracts was 11.7 percent in 1999, 12.1 percent in 2000, and 13.2 percent in 2001.
From 2000 to 2001, the total number of small-business loans originated in the MSA increased from 10,879 to 13,232, and the dollar amount increased from $403,314,000 to $597,051,000. The corresponding average dollar amount of the loans increased from $37,073 in 2000 to $45,122 in 2001.

Financial Institutions

In 2001, 301 lenders reported originating 21,476 HMDA-reportable loans totaling $1,514,618,000 in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton, PA MA. PNC Bank, N.A., with 2,569 loans representing 12.0 percent of the market, had the most originations and also ranked first in total dollar amount with $109,703,000, representing 7.2 percent of the market.
In 2001, 158 lenders reported originating 1,444 HMDA-reportable loans totaling $75,098,000 in low- and moderate-income census tracts of the MA. PNC Bank, N.A., with 161 loans representing 11.2 percent of the market, had the most originations. First Union National Bank ranked first in total dollar amount with $8,455,000, representing 11.3 percent of the market.
In 2001, 199 lenders reported originating 5,167 HMDA-reportable loans totaling $237,675,000 to low- and moderate-income borrowers in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton, PA MA. PNC Bank, N.A., with 589 loans representing 11.4 percent of the market, had the most originations and also ranked first in total dollar amount with $16,006,000, representing 6.7 percent of the market.
In 2001, GE Capital Financial, Inc., with 2,027 loans representing 14.6 percent of the market, originated the most small-business loans in the MA. PNC Bank, N.A. ranked first in total dollar amount with $135,580,000, representing 22.3 percent of the market.
In 2001, Associates Capital Bank, Inc., with 1,152 loans representing 20.8 percent of the market, originated the most small-business loans in the MA to firms with revenues of $1 million or less. PNC Bank, N.A. ranked first in total dollar amount with $38,176,000, representing 17.1 percent of the market.
In 2001, First Union National Bank, with six loans representing 30 percent of the market, originated the most small-farm loans in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton, PA MA and also ranked first in total dollar amount with $425,000, representing 44 percent of the market.

Community Organizations

The MA has a number of organizations devoted to affordable housing for LMI families, economic development and job creation, and/or provision of social services to LMI households and families. Several of the programs are outlined more fully in CHAPTER IV.

Financing Programs

There are many public and private financing programs available for affordable housing and economic development that could be used in partnership to further goals for affordable housing and economic development. The programs are outlined more fully in CHAPTER V.

Chapter I: Demographics

Chapter II: HMDA and CRA Loan Data

Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Statement Data

An important source of information about financial institutions' lending patterns in a community is the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) statement. This report is submitted annually to the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) and is available to the public for each reporting institution. The types of loans that must be reported are home-purchase loans, for both owner-occupants and nonoccupants; refinancings; home-improvement loans; and loans for improvement and/or purchase of multifamily structures (five or more units). Depository institutions that had at least $32 million on December 31, 2001, and a home or branch office in an MA must file this report.

CRA Small-Business and Small-Farm Lending Data

Starting in 1996, the nation's financial institutions began reporting small-business and small-farm loans as part of their CRA disclosure statements required under the revised CRA regulations. While the information does not have the level of detail of the HMDA statements, it is an important source for understanding commercial lending activity in a community. The types of loans reported include all originations and purchases of commercial loans, lines of credit, and mortgages on nonresidential properties. The loans are reported by size, by geographic location, and for borrowers with annual revenues of $1 million or less. These categories of loans include those with guarantees, such as those provided by the SBA or USDA. Small-farm loans are reported in the same way.

Chapter III: Financial Institutions

Chapter IV: Community Organizations

This chapter provides summaries of nonprofit organizations devoted to affordable housing, economic development, and provision of social services. Each organization listed has a service area that includes part or all of the Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Hazleton MA. Inclusion here does not represent an unqualified endorsement of these organizations by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Rather, it suggests that a financial institution seeking to conduct outreach into the community consider approaching these organizations to determine mutual areas of interest and activity.

They are arranged alphabetically by type of activity.

Affordable Housing

Economic Development

Social Services

Chapter V: Special Credit Enhancement/Financing Programs

This section of the profile contains a grid describing National, Pennsylvania, Regional, and Local credit enhancement/financing programs available to area banks to provide financing for housing, small businesses, and economic development. The grid is divided into geographically specific and regionally applicable programs. For affordable-housing programs, the order is National, Pennsylvania, Regional, and Wayne County. For small-business and economic-development programs, the order is National, Pennsylvania, Regional, and Bradford County.

Affordable Housing

Small Business and Economic Development

Maps

Last update: February 2004

Community Profile: Scranton-Wilkes-Barre-Hazleton, PA, MA (Columbia County, Lackawanna County, Luzerne County, and Wyoming County)

Executive Summary

Demographics

HMDA and CRA Loan Data

Financial Institutions

Community Organizations

Financing Programs

Chapter I: Demographics

Chapter II: HMDA and CRA Loan Data

Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) Statement Data

CRA Small-Business and Small-Farm Lending Data

Chapter III: Financial Institutions

Chapter IV: Community Organizations

Affordable Housing

Economic Development

Social Services

Chapter V: Special Credit Enhancement/Financing Programs

Affordable Housing

Small Business and Economic Development

Maps

Report Sections

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