Berwick is one of two principal cities of the Bloomsburg–Berwick Micropolitan Statistical Area, a micropolitan area that covers Columbia and Mountour counties and had a combined population of 82,387 at the 2000 census.
Berwick is home to Berwick Offray, a gift ribbon manufacturing plant, and Wise Foods, Inc., a snack food company founded by Berwick native Earl Wise in the first half of the twentieth century, famous for its potato chips. Berwick is also famous for its high school football team, the Bulldogs which is six times State champions and three times national champions. Berwick is now the home of the 2008 PIAA AAA Baseball State Champions. It is the schools first baseball state championship in its history. Berwick was one of the places where the Stuart tank was produced. American Car & Foundry, a producer of rolling stock for railroads also operated a plant in Berwick
As of the census of 2000, there were 10,774 people, 4,595 households, and 2,802 families residing in the borough. The population density was 3,477.0 people per square mile (1,341.9/km²). There were 4,992 housing units at an average density of 1,611.0/sq mi (621.7/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 97.10% White, 0.88% African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.43% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.61% from other races, and 0.65% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.62% of the population.
The Berwick area had a large influx of Eastern European immigrants approximately between 1890-1920, which had a great impact on the current population that continues to this day. These immigrants included Slovaks [1], Ukrainians [2], Ruthenians [3], Lithuanians [4], and Polish [5] ethnicities. The 2000 US census shows that Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, is the only county to have a majority of Eastern Europeans in the United States [6]. These immigrants were primarily Orthodox Catholic and Roman Catholic.
There were 4,595 households out of which 26.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.8% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.0% were non-families. 33.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the borough the population was spread out with 23.1% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 21.5% from 45 to 64, and 20.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 87.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.6 males.
The median income for a household in the borough was $27,442, and the median income for a family was $32,357. Males had a median income of $26,467 versus $21,061 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $14,538. About 9.6% of families and 14.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 20.8% of those under age 18 and 11.1% of those age 65 or over.