Living in Avoca, PA — The Middle of Everything

Avoca is a one-square-mile borough of about 2,500 people sitting almost exactly between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre — roughly 3.5 miles to one, 7.5 to the other. For anyone who splits time between both cities, or flies for work, it’s hard to beat.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport carries an Avoca mailing address and borders the borough — the terminal is a few minutes from any front door in town. (The airfield itself sits mostly in neighboring Pittston Township and is owned jointly by Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.) American, United Express and Breeze Airways fly out of it to Charlotte, Chicago-O’Hare, Washington-Dulles, Orlando, Tampa and Fort Lauderdale, from a 130,000-square-foot terminal with eight gates. The airport is marking 75 years of operation.

Avoca was settled as “Pleasant Valley,” incorporated in 1871, and renamed in 1887 after the town in Ireland — an Irish identity the borough still marks each spring with an Ancient Order of Hibernians flag raising at the Borough Building.

Food & Drink

Small town, real food.

• Cwikla’s Quality Bakery on Main Street is the standout — a third-generation family bakery baking since 1921, still using the original coal-fired oven. Founded by a grandfather who emigrated from the Poland-Austria region. Seasonal paczki are worth planning around.
• Colarusso’s Café — family-owned, specializing in Old Forge red pizza with its thick airy crust and slow-cooked sauce, plus the double-crust white.
• Ernie G’s Pub & Eatery — wings, wraps, subs, burgers, chili, pizza and seafood, open late on Fridays.
• Springs Garden — Chinese, open every day but Tuesday, and late on weekends.
• Giuseppe’s Pizzeria and Almendez Pizza and Mexican Food round out Main Street.

Old Forge’s pizza trail is minutes away, and downtown Pittston’s dining is about four miles off.

Things to Do

Avoca Irish Night fills the Queen of the Apostles Parish Hall each August with live Irish music, food and theme baskets. The borough runs a Hometown Hero Banners program honoring local veterans. Beyond that, everything the region offers is close: the Pittston Tomato Festival in downtown Pittston has run since 1983; PNC Field and the RailRiders are in Moosic; Montage Mountain has skiing, a waterpark and an amphitheater; and Mohegan Pennsylvania in Plains Township has a casino, sportsbook, 238-room hotel and harness racing.

Outdoors & Parks

Plane Street Park offers a neighborhood basketball court with an elevated view over the borough. Avoca is compact — one square mile — so the outdoor story is really about what’s next door. The Lackawanna River Heritage Trail’s southern end reaches the Duryea/Pittston confluence just outside the borough, with 30-plus finished miles running north toward Scranton and Carbondale. Frances Slocum State Park wraps 1,035 acres around a 165-acre horseshoe lake, with the Patrick J. Solano Environmental Education Center on site.

Gyms & Fitness

There’s no gym inside the borough. Planet Fitness on North Township Boulevard in Pittston is the nearest, with 24-hour access.

Schools

Avoca is served by the Pittston Area School District, which covers about 42 square miles across Pittston City and the boroughs of Avoca, Dupont, Duryea, Hughestown and Yatesville plus Jenkins and Pittston Townships. It was created in 1966 from six separate districts. Enrollment runs about 3,250 with a 17–18:1 student-teacher ratio; Niche gives the district an overall C+ (Niche, 2026). The high school is in Yatesville, the middle school and intermediate center in Pittston, and the primary school in Hughestown. Teams play as the Patriots; alumni include Jimmy Cefalo and Pro Football Hall of Famer Charley Trippi.

School Performance

State assessment results for the high school serving Avoca, from the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Future Ready PA Index, 2024–25 school year:

• Pittston Area Senior High School — Keystone Literature 53.0% proficient or advanced (statewide 49.9%) · Keystone Algebra I 29.5% (statewide 41.7%) · four-year graduation rate 90.7% (statewide 88.0%)

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Education, Future Ready PA Index, 2024–25. We publish these same three measures, from this same source, on every community page in this guide.

Everyday Essentials

Avoca has no grocery store of its own; the nearest Gerrity’s are in Moosic and West Pittston, with the Pittston corridor and The Shoppes at Montage close by. For healthcare, Geisinger Wyoming Valley Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre and Wilkes-Barre General Hospital are both a short drive.

The Homes

Avoca is a dense, walkable, pre-war borough — about 1,200 housing units across one square mile, with small lots on a Main Street grid. The majority of homes were built before 1960, and very few after 2000; the borough’s population peaked at 4,950 back in 1920. Homeownership runs about 72%. New construction here is rare — this is an established market where the value is in location and price per square foot.