Living in Pittston, PA — The City in the Middle of Everything

Pittston sits on the Susquehanna River almost exactly halfway between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre — about 15 to 20 minutes to either downtown — with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport minutes away and the PA Turnpike interchange close by. For location alone, it’s one of the smartest addresses in the Wyoming Valley.

But the real story is what’s happened downtown. After a two-decade, grant-funded revitalization, Pittston’s Main Street has new streetscapes, a riverfront park, public art on nearly every block — and restaurants people now drive in for. Pittston also calls itself the Quality Tomato Capital of the World, and throws a festival every August to prove it.

Food & Drink

• Rikasa — Pittston’s fine-dining flagship on Main Street: Italian-inspired steaks and seafood, a craft cocktail program, and live music Friday and Saturday nights.
• The Refinery — modern Italian in the Waterfront Warehouse on Kennedy Boulevard, built on seasonal ingredients sourced from across Northeastern Pennsylvania.
• Pizza Althea — elevated pizza and Italian small plates inside a former bank building on South Main.
• Fuji Ramen — a family-owned authentic ramen shop in the heart of downtown.
• Susquehanna Brewing Company — a production craft brewery founded in 2012 by a family with generations in the regional beer business; the taproom runs trivia nights, food trucks and live music.
• Napoli’s Pizza — the longtime Main Street pizzeria.
• Agolino’s — homemade Italian-American comfort food in West Pittston since 1955.
• Sabatini’s Pizza (Exeter, established 1958) and Grico’s (Exeter) round out Greater Pittston’s classics.

Things to Do

The Pittston Tomato Festival has run every August since 1983 — four days of food, rides, live entertainment, a 5K, a parade and the famous tomato contests, drawing tens of thousands downtown. From May through September, the Second Friday Art Walk keeps Main Street open late with street musicians and artists. The Pittston Art Loop Trail strings together 25 permanent sculptures plus murals throughout downtown, and Riverfront Park connects Main Street to the Susquehanna. Mohegan Arena and the Mohegan Pennsylvania casino are 10 to 15 minutes south; Montage Mountain’s skiing and waterpark are about 15 minutes north.

Outdoors & Parks

Riverfront Park downtown, kayaking on the Susquehanna, and the southern end of the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail, which begins at the confluence right at Pittston and Duryea and runs 30-plus finished miles north toward Scranton and Carbondale. Frances Slocum State Park, Lackawanna State Park and Montage Mountain are all a short drive.

Gyms & Fitness

Planet Fitness on North Township Boulevard with 24-hour access, Anthracite Fitness Factory (cycling, functional training and meal prep under one roof), and Aira Fitness.

Schools

The city 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 and enrolls roughly 3,250 students at a 17–18:1 student-teacher ratio; Niche gives it an overall C+ (Niche, 2026). The graduation rate is 93%, in the top 20% of Pennsylvania districts (PublicSchoolReview, 2022–23 assessment data). Teams play as the Patriots; alumni include Jimmy Cefalo and Pro Football Hall of Famer Charley Trippi. Wilkes University and King’s College are about 15 minutes away, with Misericordia and the Scranton colleges within 20 to 25.

School Performance

State assessment results for the high school serving Pittston, 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

A Walmart Supercenter sits on Route 315 and Pittston Crossings anchors big-box retail, with the Wilkes-Barre Township corridor and Dickson City’s retail strip each about 15 minutes out. Geisinger operates a clinic with primary care, lab and radiology right in town, with full hospitals 15 to 20 minutes in either direction.

The Homes

Pittston offers some of the valley’s best housing variety for the money: coal-era single-family homes and doubles on hillside streets in the city, new mixed-use apartments rising downtown, and — across the river — West Pittston’s “Garden Village,” famed for its century-old Italianate, Second Empire and Queen Anne Victorians along Susquehanna Avenue, where original carriage stones still carry the names of the families who set them.