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1990 populations for cities, boroughs and townships are shown in Table Two. Populations for
the 66 counties are presented in Table Three.
Table Two
Municipal Population
Population Number Percentage
Under 1,000 793 30.8
1,000 - 2,499 774 30.1
2,500 - 4,999 491 19.1
5,000 - 9,999 310 12.1
10,000 - 14,999 91 3.5
15,000 - 19,999 48 1.9
Over 20,000 64 2.5
Table Three
County Population
Population Number Percentage
Over 1,000,000 1 * 1.5
500,000 - 1,000,000 2 3.0
250,000 - 500,000 12 18.2
200,000 - 250,000 2 3.0
150,000 - 200,000 4 6.1
100,000 - 150,000 9 13.6
50,000 - 100,000 12 18.2
25,000 - 50,000 16 24.2
Under 25,000 8 12.1
*
City/County of Philadelphia excluded.
A legal principle known as Dillon=s Rule impacts upon the power possessed by counties,
cities, boroughs and townships. The rule provides that local governments are creatures of the state
and have only those powers which may be delegated to them by the state or which may be implied
from such delegation. Dillon=s Rule is in effect in all fifty states.
Each class of municipality operates under its own code of laws. These codes set forth
governmental structure and delineate general and specific powers of local government. They are the
County Code, Second Class County Code, Third Class City Code, Borough Code, First Class
Township Code, and Second Class Township Code.
There is also extensive general legislation applying to local governments. Some examples of
legislative provisions outside the local government codes are real property assessment, local
nonproperty taxes, municipal borrowing, real estate tax collection, intergovernmental cooperation
and zoning.
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