Home > Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania

In 1919, the world's first commercial radio station, KDKA, began broadcasting here from a small garage owned by Frank Conrad . In 1923, Wilkinsburg-based Russian immigrant Vladimir Zwyorkin designed and patented the iconoscope , the photocell "eye" of early television cameras.

Wilkinsburg was founded and developed by highly religious European immigrants. The borough has a remarkably high concentration of churches, mostly Protestant, which is unusual in a predominantly Catholic region of the country. Also, bars are prohibited within the borough limits. In 1871, Wilkinsburg separated from the city of Pittsburgh in order to (according to borough leader James Kelly) maintain the religious integrity of the community.

In more recent years, the borough has fallen on harder times, with many of its residents living in public housing. In 2000, Wilkinsburg received unwanted national attention when a man suffering from schizophrenia shot two and wounded three others at a fast foodFast food is food prepared and served quickly at a fast-food restaurant or shop at low cost. Fast food is a multi-billion dollar industry which is continuing to grow at a rapid pace in the early 21st century in many countries as fewer people cook at home. restaurant in the borough.

1 Geography

Wilkinsburg is located at 40°26'38" North, 79°52'39" West (40.443827, -79.877371) ¹The following is a list of sources used in the creation of Wikipedia articles on various geographic topics and locations, such as cities, counties, states, and countries. These sources are cited within the thousands of articles which link to this page..

According to the United States Census BureauThe United States Census Bureau (officially Bureau of the Census is a part of the United States Department of Commerce. Its mission is defined in the Constitution of the United States, which directs that the population be enumerated at least once every te, the borough has a total area of 6.0 km² (2.3 mi²This article is about the unit of measure. In England, the Square Mile is a traditional name for the City of London. A square mile (symbol sq. or mi is an imperial unit which is the area of a square whose side is one mile (or 5,280 feet). A square mile is). 6.0 km² (2.3 mi²) of it is land and none of the area is covered with water.

2 Demographics

As of the censusA census is the process of obtaining information about every member of a population (not necessarily a human population). It can be contrasted with sampling in which information is only obtained from a subset of a population. As such it is a method used f ²The following is a list of sources used in the creation of Wikipedia articles on various geographic topics and locations, such as cities, counties, states, and countries. These sources are cited within the thousands of articles which link to this page. of 2000, there are 19,196 people, 9,138 households, and 4,477 families residing in the borough. The population density is 3,222.4/km² (8,335.1/mi²). There are 10,696 housing units at an average density of 1,795.5/km² (4,644.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the borough is 29.25% White, 66.51% African American, 0.38% Native American, 0.81% Asian, 0.06% Pacific Islander, 0.55% from other races, and 2.44% from two or more races. 1.13% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 9,138 households out of which 22.6% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 24.3% are married couples living together, 20.7% have a female householder with no husband present, and 51.0% are non-families. 44.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 12.5% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.06 and the average family size is 2.91.

In the borough the population is spread out with 23.4% under the age of 18, 7.7% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 23.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 38 years. For every 100 females there are 78.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 72.0 males.

The median income for a household in the borough is $26,621, and the median income for a family is $33,412. Males have a median income of $26,813 versus $26,196 for females. The per capita income for the borough is $16,890. 18.7% of the population and 15.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 30.8% of those under the age of 18 and 14.2% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.