Living in Tobyhanna, PA — The Depot Town in the Poconos

Tobyhanna sits in the Pocono highlands of Monroe County, a community of roughly 6,000 people within Tobyhanna Township — a township established in 1830 that covers about 52.6 square miles and held roughly 8,290 residents at the 2020 Census.

What sets Tobyhanna apart from the resort communities around it is that it has a real, year-round economic anchor: Tobyhanna Army Depot. It is one of the largest employers in the region, and it gives this stretch of the Poconos a working-town stability that pure vacation areas do not have.

Things to Do

The Poconos are the amenity. Lakes, ski areas, waterpark resorts, state parks and state forest land are all within a short drive, and the region’s visitor economy keeps dining and entertainment running through all four seasons.

Outdoors & Parks

Gouldsboro State Park is right next door — 2,880 acres with a 250-acre lake for boating and fishing. Tobyhanna State Park and the surrounding state forest add thousands more acres of trail, water and woods. For anyone whose weekends revolve around being outside, this is about as well-supplied as Pennsylvania gets.

Schools

Tobyhanna is served by the Pocono Mountain School District, the largest school district in Northeastern Pennsylvania at 305 square miles, serving roughly 55,000 residents across eight townships and Mount Pocono borough. The district office is in Tobyhanna, at 194 Main Street.

School Performance

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

• Pocono Mountain East High School — Keystone Literature 73.9% proficient or advanced (statewide 49.9%) · Keystone Algebra I 57.2% (statewide 41.7%) · four-year graduation rate 94.2% (statewide 88.0%)
• Pocono Mountain West High School — Keystone Literature 63.7% proficient or advanced (statewide 49.9%) · Keystone Algebra I 41.7% (statewide 41.7%) · four-year graduation rate 98.2% (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

Local retail and services run along the main corridors, with Mount Pocono’s larger commercial strip minutes away and the Stroudsburg area covering regional hospitals and big-box shopping.

The Homes

Most of the housing inventory in this part of the Poconos sits inside private lake and resort communities — developments with their own roads, amenities, association dues and rules. That is not a drawback, but it is a different purchase from buying on a public street, and the carrying cost is different too.

Before you write an offer on any Pocono property, get clear on four things: the association dues, who maintains the road, whether the community allows short-term rentals, and whether the home is built and insulated for year-round occupancy or was originally a seasonal cabin. Those four answers change the math more than the list price does.