| Official Name: | Clearfield, Pennsylvania |
| Settlement Type: | Borough |
| Image Map1: | Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Clearfield County.svg |
| Mapsize1: | 175px |
| Map Caption1: | Map showing Clearfield County in Pennsylvania |
| Pushpin Map: | Pennsylvania#USA |
| Pushpin Label: | Clearfield |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Pennsylvania |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | United States |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Pennsylvania |
| Subdivision Type2: | County |
| Subdivision Name2: | Clearfield |
| Government Type: | Borough Council |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Mason Strouse |
| Established Title: | Settled |
| Established Date: | 1805 |
| Established Title1: | Incorporated |
| Established Date1: | 1840 |
| Unit Pref: | Imperial |
| Area Footnotes: | [1] |
| Area Total Km2: | 4.87 |
| Area Land Km2: | 4.67 |
| Area Water Km2: | 0.20 |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 1.88 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 1.80 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 0.08 |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 5962 |
| Population Density Km2: | 1276.88 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | 3306.71 |
| Timezone: | Eastern (EST) |
| Utc Offset: | -5 |
| Timezone Dst: | EDT |
| Utc Offset Dst: | -4 |
| Coordinates: | 41.0225°N -78.4403°W |
| Elevation Ft: | 1109 |
| Postal Code Type: | ZIP code |
| Postal Code: | 16830 |
| Area Code: | 814 |
| Blank Name: | FIPS code |
| Blank Info: | 42-14064 |
Clearfield is a borough and the county seat[2] of Clearfield County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census the population was 5,962 people,[3] making it the second most populous community in Clearfield County, behind DuBois. The borough is part of the DuBois, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area, as well as the larger State College-DuBois, PA Combined Statistical Area. The settled area surrounding the borough consists of the nearby census-designated places of Hyde and Plymptonville, which combined with Clearfield have a population of approximately 8,237 people.
In October 2015, a Clearfield/Lawrence Township Consolidation Committee first convened to discuss a potential merger between Lawrence Township and Clearfield.[4] [5] However, on August 1, 2017, Lawrence Township supervisors voted 2 to 1 against consolidation with Clearfield.[6] The population of the new municipality would have been approximately 13,800, surpassing DuBois as the most populous community in the county.
There were many trade routes and paths for Native Americans living and passing through Clearfield County up to the 1600s. One major Indian path at the time was the Great Shamokin Path, which started near the Indian village of Shamokin (now Sunbury) on the Susquehanna River and continued west past Lock Haven, to Chinklacamoose,[7] now the borough of Clearfield. Finally the path ended at the village of Kittanning on the Allegheny River, which is now the modern town of the same name.
Clearfield is home to four of Clearfield County's list of twenty National Registered Historic Places.
In 1966, Clearfield was one of the winners of the All-America City Award, given annually to the top ten cities in the United States. The other nine cities included in the top ten list in 1966 were Pinellas County, Florida; Malden, Massachusetts; Ann Arbor, Michigan; Detroit, Michigan; Cohoes, New York; Greensboro, North Carolina; Richmond, Virginia; and Seattle, Washington.[8]
Clearfield is located near the center of Clearfield County along the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. Clearfield Creek joins the West Branch 2miles to the east (downstream) of town.
U.S. Route 322 passes through the borough, and Interstate 80 passes just to the north, with access from Exit 120 (Pennsylvania Route 879). Via US-322 and I-80, it is northwest to the city of DuBois. US-322 leads southeast to State College.
As of the census of 2010, there were 6,215 people, a drop of 6.3% from the 2000 census.3,070 households, and 1,740 families residing in the borough. The population density was 3649.7sp=usNaNsp=us. There were 3,326 housing units at an average density of 1830.6sp=usNaNsp=us. The racial makeup of the borough was 93.1% White, 2.6% African American, 0.08% Native American, 1.6% Asian, 0.06% from other races, and 0.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.4% of the population.
There were 3,070 households, out of which 24.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.4% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.3% were non-families. 38.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.13 and the average family size was 2.83.
In the borough the population was spread out, with 20.4% under the age of 18, 8.4% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 20.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 89.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.9 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $27,414, and the median income for a family was $40,095. Males had a median income of $29,972 versus $22,607 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $17,374. About 8.3% of families and 13.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.6% of those under age 18 and 15.4% of those age 65 or over.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 1.9sqmi, of which, 1.8sqmi of it is land and 0.1sqmi of it (3.70%) is water.
Clearfield receives television programming from the Johnstown-Altoona-State College, Pennsylvania media market. Public television station WPSU-TV is licensed to Clearfield.
Three feature films were shot on location in Clearfield County and downtown Clearfield by native Spencer Folmar. First in 2009 for the feature film, "Guilt & Sentence" (2010), and again in 2016 for the feature film "Generational Sins" (2017) starring the Australian actor, Daniel MacPherson. Recently the film Shooting Heroin also made by Folmar debuted and is a film inspired by true events about the opioid epidemic.
Clearfield is covered by The Progress, published daily since 1913, and Gant Daily, published online since 2006.