Harrisburg / Wilkes-Barre
Wilkes-Barre has 44,423 residents (give or take 69) (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B01003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B01003?g=160XX00US4285152, checked 2026-10-19), about 6,487 people per square mile.
Wilkes-Barre is about 85 miles from the Census center point for Harrisburg in a straight line and covers 6.848 square miles of land (Census 2024 Gazetteer internal points and land area, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2024_Gazetteer/, checked 2026-10-19).
The quote form takes a ZIP code; for Wilkes-Barre that is 18701, 18705 (Census 2020 ZCTA to county subdivision and ZCTA to place relationship files, ZIP areas at least 20% inside the town, https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_cousub20_natl.txt and https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/rel2020/zcta520/tab20_zcta520_place20_natl.txt, checked 2026-10-19).
6,487 people per square mile puts Wilkes-Barre in suburban density, where the outdoor unit usually sits in a side yard and the noise is not an issue for neighbors.
Of the 16,644 occupied homes in Wilkes-Barre, 73% heat with natural gas, 3% with heating oil, 21% with electricity and 2% with propane (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=160XX00US4285152, checked 2026-10-19).
Gas heats 73% of Wilkes-Barre against electricity at 21%, so most quotes here are a partial-home system that carries the shoulder seasons and the summer while the gas furnace handles the coldest nights, or a whole-home system when the house is ready for it.
Wilkes-Barre has 13 points less oil heat than Luzerne County as a whole, where 16% of homes burn oil, and 3 points less electric heat than the county's 24% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25040, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25040?g=050XX00US42079, checked 2026-10-19).
Wilkes-Barre has 19,781 housing units, 47% built before 1940 and 86% before 1980, with 4% built in 2000 or later (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US4285152, checked 2026-10-19).
Wilkes-Barre has 17 points more pre-1940 homes than Luzerne County as a whole (30%) and 6 points fewer homes built after 2000 than the county's 10% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=050XX00US42079, checked 2026-10-19). An older stock means more insulation upgrades before the heat pump goes in.
The median Wilkes-Barre home was built in 1943 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25035, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25035?g=160XX00US4285152, checked 2026-10-19) and the median home has 5.7 rooms (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25018, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25018?g=160XX00US4285152, checked 2026-10-19).
51% of Wilkes-Barre homes are single-family detached, 18% are in two- to four-unit buildings and 18% are in buildings of five or more units (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=160XX00US4285152, checked 2026-10-19).
49% of Wilkes-Barre homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US4285152, checked 2026-10-19), so beside the 51% detached houses there is a real share of jobs where the landlord, not the resident, signs the quote.
Wilkes-Barre has 13 points fewer detached houses than Luzerne County overall (64%) and 10 points more five-plus-unit buildings than the county's 8% (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25024, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25024?g=050XX00US42079, checked 2026-10-19).
49% of Wilkes-Barre homes are rented (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25003, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25003?g=160XX00US4285152, checked 2026-10-19), so the market splits between resident-led jobs where the occupant picks the system and landlord-led jobs where they do not, and the rebate paperwork differs.
47% of Wilkes-Barre homes were built before 1940 and 86% before 1980 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B25034, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B25034?g=160XX00US4285152, checked 2026-10-19), so insulation is the first sizing question: an older home leaks more heat per square foot, and the installer runs a room-by-room heat-loss calculation to size the system for what the walls and windows actually hold in, not just the floor plan.
No electric utility is on file for Wilkes-Barre on this door yet, so this page does not name one; the name on the bill decides which rebate path applies.
Median household income in Wilkes-Barre is $48,515 (ACS 2020-2024 5-year, table B19013, https://data.census.gov/table/ACSDT5Y2024.B19013?g=160XX00US4285152, checked 2026-10-19); many state and utility heat pump rebate programs set higher incentive tiers for income-qualifying households, so the household income on the application, not the town median, decides which level applies.
Heating design temperature: 5F. Source: ENERGY STAR Design Temperature Limit Reference Guide (2019 Edition), Luzerne County row, 99% heating, PDF pages 102 to 105 of 141 (Revised 11/11/2020), https://www.energystar.gov/sites/default/files/Design%20Temperature%20Limit%20Reference%20Guide%20(2019%20Ed)%20-%20ENERGY%20STAR%20Single-Family%20New%20Homes_Rev11.pdf, fetched 2026-10-19, 99%.
That 5F figure is the Luzerne County cold-day number a Wilkes-Barre heat pump is sized against, so ask the installer to show the system's heating output at 5F, not at the milder rating-label temperature.
Ask whether the quote is whole-home or partial-home, because with 73% of Wilkes-Barre on gas and 21% already electric the two paths carry different rebate figures and different sizing.
Ask for the heat-loss calculation room by room; a Wilkes-Barre house from before 1940 (47% of the 19,781 units) rarely matches a square-footage rule of thumb.
The form on this page is the follow-up for Wilkes-Barre. The public number is the number the contractor quotes from.
No local contractor is named on this door for Wilkes-Barre yet. A request from this page goes to the first licensed shop that takes the door.