Wilkes-Barre Homes For Sale
Wilkes-Barre is the seat of Luzerne County and the center of the Wyoming Valley: a city of about 44,000 on the Susquehanna River, founded in 1769 and built out during the anthracite boom that pushed its population past 86,000 in 1930. That history left it with block after block of solid pre-war housing, two universities, a 1938 theater on Public Square and a riverfront that has been rebuilt as a park. It is also the most affordable of the valley’s larger markets.
Nearly half of the city’s homes were built before 1940. You will find brick and frame singles and doubles in the North End, Parsons, Miners Mills, the East End, the Heights, Mayflower and South Wilkes-Barre, larger homes near the river and the colleges, and post-war ranches at the city’s edges. Roughly half of households own and half rent, which makes Wilkes-Barre a market for first-time buyers and investors alike.
Homes for Sale in Wilkes-Barre, PA
Living in Wilkes-Barre
Location and commute
Interstate 81, Route 309 (the Cross Valley Expressway), U.S. Route 11 and the Turnpike’s Northeast Extension all serve the city. Scranton is about 20 miles up I-81, roughly a 25-minute drive, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport is about 10 miles away in Pittston Township. The average commute for city residents is about 21 minutes.
Work
Luzerne County’s largest employers include Amazon, Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center, the federal and state governments, Chewy, Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, Wilkes University and the Wilkes-Barre Area School District. GUARD Insurance Group is headquartered downtown. Health care is a major draw: Wilkes-Barre General on North River Street is the region’s largest community hospital with 369 beds, and Geisinger Wyoming Valley, the area’s Level I trauma center, is building a new 11-story tower due in 2028.
Schools and colleges
The city is served by the Wilkes-Barre Area School District, which opened a consolidated Wilkes-Barre Area High School in Plains Township in 2021. Wilkes University (founded 1933, about 5,400 students) and King’s College (founded 1946) sit downtown, and Luzerne County Community College has a center in the city.
Parks, culture and events
- Kirby Park, 52 acres on the west bank donated by the Kirby family in 1924, hosts the Cherry Blossom Festival each April and the Fourth of July celebration; Nesbitt Park next door has a boat launch and disc golf.
- The River Common on the east bank has walking and biking paths, a fishing pier and two amphitheaters that host the Rockin’ the River summer concerts.
- The F.M. Kirby Center on Public Square, a 1,832-seat theater opened in 1938, brings touring concerts and shows downtown; the Fine Arts Fiesta has filled Public Square each May since 1956.
- Mohegan Arena in neighboring Wilkes-Barre Township is home to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
- The 1929 Market Street Bridge, with its limestone eagles, connects downtown to Kingston.
The river and the levee
Wilkes-Barre flooded in 1972 during Tropical Storm Agnes. The levee system that followed was raised and completed in 2003, and when the Susquehanna set its record crest of 42.66 feet in September 2011 the levees held. The 16-mile system now protects about 15,000 properties in Wilkes-Barre, Kingston, Forty Fort and neighboring towns. Some low-lying areas outside the levee remain in mapped flood zones, so we check the flood map on every listing near the river.
Market snapshot
At the end of August 2026 Zillow’s home value index for Wilkes-Barre was about $185,000, up about 2 percent over the year, with homes typically going under contract in around 10 days. The 2024 Census survey put the median value of owner-occupied homes at about $117,000, a reminder of how much variety there is from block to block. For a current number on a specific home, request a market analysis.
Nearby communities
See homes in Kingston, Forty Fort, Pittston, Nanticoke and Mountain Top, or browse all the communities we serve. To see a Wilkes-Barre home, contact Button Real Estate or call (570) 715-7700.