In 39 of Lackawanna County's 40 municipalities the realty transfer tax is 2% of the price. One percent goes to Pennsylvania, one half percent to the municipality and one half percent to the school district. The exception is the City of Scranton, where the city takes 2.2% and the total is 3.7%. On a $200,000 sale that is $4,000 in most of the county and $7,400 in Scranton, or $2,000 and $3,700 for each side when buyer and seller split it.
This is the companion to our Luzerne County guide. The figures come from the state's local tax register for 2026, and the county Recorder of Deeds, who collects the tax when a deed is recorded, states the same two totals.
Scranton Is the Only Exception
| Municipality | City | School District | Total With the 1% State |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scranton City | 2.2% | 0.5% | 3.7% |
Scranton's rate is set in its city code, which imposes a tax of 2.2% of the value of the property transferred, and it has been 2.2% since at least 2020. The Scranton School District takes the usual one half percent. The county Recorder's own answer to the question is direct. The total realty transfer tax collected on a property in Scranton is 3.7%.
If you are comparing sources, you may find a higher figure for Scranton in older records. The state register listed the city at 2.9% for its 2022 and 2023 reporting years. The city's ordinances for 2020 and 2021 and its 2023 amendment all set 2.2%, the county put the total at 3.7% in 2022, and the register has shown 2.2% since reporting year 2024. It was a record that disagreed with the ordinance, not a rate that changed.
No other municipality in the county levies more than the usual one percent locally. The state register shows every Lackawanna school district at one half percent and every municipality other than Scranton at one half percent, in each reporting year from 2022 through 2026.
Who Pays It
Pennsylvania holds the buyer and the seller jointly and severally liable for the full tax, which means the state can collect all of it from either one. Who actually pays is settled in the agreement of sale. The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors standard agreement divides transfer taxes equally between buyer and seller, and the county Recorder notes that most sales agreements split it. Like any term of the agreement, the split can be negotiated.
What the Reassessment Changed
On an ordinary sale the tax is figured on the price paid. On a transfer for less than full value, such as a gift or an exchange, it is figured on the property's assessed value multiplied by a common level ratio factor the Department of Revenue publishes for each county.
Until the end of 2025 Lackawanna County assessed property at values set in 1968, and the factor that turned a 1968 assessment into a current value was 17.61. A $10,000 assessment became a taxable value of $176,100. The county's first countywide reassessment since 1968 took effect on January 1, 2026, and the Department of Revenue reset the factor to 1.00 from that date, and again for documents accepted from July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027. The new assessment is now the taxable value on those transfers, with no multiplier.
Common Exemptions
State law exempts a number of transfers entirely. The ones buyers and sellers ask about most often are these.
- Between spouses, and between former spouses for property acquired before the divorce
- Between a parent and child or the child's spouse, and between a stepparent and stepchild
- Between brothers and sisters or the spouse of either
- Between a grandparent and grandchild or the grandchild's spouse
- Property passing by will or by intestate succession
- Gifts or dedications of property to the Commonwealth or a municipality, conveyances in lieu of condemnation, and certain transfers between religious organizations
The family exemption comes with a condition. If the family member who received the property sells it within a year, that sale is taxed as though the original owner were the seller. And being a nonprofit is not by itself an exemption. The county Recorder says so plainly.
Recording the Deed
The Lackawanna County Recorder of Deeds lists a base fee of $99.75 to record a deed on its schedule dated February 19, 2026. That covers up to four pages, four names, one acknowledgement, one parcel and one parcel certification. Each page over four is $2.00, each name over four is $0.50, and a statement of value is $2.00. The county began collecting a $15 demolition fee on every deed and mortgage on December 1, 2025. The schedule lists deeds and mortgages at $99.75 while comparable documents such as leases and easements are $84.75, which suggests the fee is included, but it does not say so directly, so confirm the total with the title company.
Every Municipality in Lackawanna County
| Municipality | School District | Municipal | School District | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Archbald Borough | Valley View School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Benton Township | Lackawanna Trail School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Blakely Borough | Valley View School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Carbondale City | Carbondale Area School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Carbondale Township | Lakeland School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Clarks Green Borough | Abington Heights School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Clarks Summit Borough | Abington Heights School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Clifton Township | North Pocono School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Covington Township | North Pocono School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Dalton Borough | Lackawanna Trail School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Dickson City Borough | Mid Valley School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Dunmore Borough | Dunmore School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Elmhurst Township | North Pocono School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Fell Township | Carbondale Area School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Glenburn Township | Abington Heights School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Greenfield Township | Lakeland School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Jefferson Township | North Pocono School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Jermyn Borough | Lakeland School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Jessup Borough | Valley View School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| La Plume Township | Lackawanna Trail School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Madison Township | North Pocono School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Mayfield Borough | Lakeland School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Moosic Borough | Riverside School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Moscow Borough | North Pocono School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Newton Township | Abington Heights School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| North Abington Township | Abington Heights School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Old Forge Borough | Old Forge School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Olyphant Borough | Mid Valley School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Ransom Township | Abington Heights School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Roaring Brook Township | North Pocono School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Scott Township | Lakeland School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Scranton City | Scranton School District | 2.2% | 0.5% | 3.7% |
| South Abington Township | Abington Heights School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Spring Brook Township | North Pocono School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Taylor Borough | Riverside School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Thornhurst Township | North Pocono School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Throop Borough | Mid Valley School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Vandling Borough | Forest City Regional School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| Waverly Township | Abington Heights School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
| West Abington Township | Lackawanna Trail School District | 0.5% | 0.5% | 2% |
Methodology and Sources
The rates are the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Municipal Statistics register, the local tax database built from the forms each municipality and school district files with the state, for reporting year 2026, retrieved September 23, 2026. The Lackawanna extract returns 40 realty transfer rows, one for each municipality. The municipal and school district shares add to the stated total on every row, and every school district levies one half percent. Scranton's rate was checked against the city code and the county Recorder.
- Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, Municipal Statistics, Municipal Tax Information report, Lackawanna County, reporting years 2022 through 2026
- Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, Realty Transfer Tax, for the 1% state rate, joint liability and exemptions
- Tax Reform Code of 1971, Article XI-C, sections 1101-C (definition of value) and 1102-C.3 (exclusions)
- City of Scranton Code, chapter 428, section 428-45, as amended by Ordinance 105-2023, and city council agendas of December 16, 2019 and December 8, 2020
- Lackawanna County Recorder of Deeds, Realty Transfer Tax Frequently Asked Questions (May 2, 2022), Recording Fees for Documents (February 19, 2026), and demolition fee notice (September 3, 2025)
- Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, Common Level Ratio Real Estate Valuation Factors, current (July 2026) and historical, and Pennsylvania Bulletin, 55 Pa.B. 8859 (December 27, 2025)
- Pennsylvania Association of Realtors, Standard Agreement for the Sale of Real Estate, transfer tax paragraph
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