What USDA hardiness zone is Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA?

Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA spans USDA hardiness zones 6a to 7a. 56% of its ZIP codes are zone 6b, so there is no single zone for the metro.

When is the last spring frost in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA?

The median last spring freeze runs April 23 – May 14 across the 7 NOAA weather stations serving Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA, from NOAA 1991-2020 Climate Normals. Half of years freeze later than the median.

Place guide

Planting zones in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA

This metro spans USDA zones 6a to 7a, so there is no single zone for Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA and anyone who gives you one is rounding. 56% of its ZIP codes are zone 6b; the rest are not.

USDA zones 6a–7a 3 zones across 70 ZIP codes

ZIP codes 70 70 have a NOAA station within range

Weather stations 7 NOAA 1991–2020 normals, across 1,746 sq mi

Your ZIP code

Get the exact answer for your address

Everything above describes Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA as a whole. Hardiness zones and freeze dates are published per ZIP code, so yours is exact — enter it and this page will tell you your zone, which NOAA station it comes from and how far away that station is.

The growing season in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA is closing

Nothing in the 32-crop table still has time to mature here. The first fall freeze normally arrives October 1 – October 22 across the 7 NOAA stations serving this metro area .

Your next season already has a date

The first job of it is 🧅 Green Onions, start indoors, around February 26 – March 19 — counted back from a last spring freeze of April 23 – May 14 here.

Every spring date for your ZIP →

These are ranges across the whole metro area. The ZIP lookup above gives the dates from your own nearest station instead.

All 7 stations agreeAt least one station

Every one of the 7 NOAA stations serving this metro area counts May 14 – October 1 as growing season (140 days). Widening to any single station gives April 23 – October 22 (182 days).

That is a 42-day difference inside one metro area — which is why this page gives ranges rather than a single planting date. The ZIP lookup above resolves it to one station.

Which zone you are in depends where you are

Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA covers 3 hardiness zones. A guide that gives the metro one zone has picked whichever is largest and rounded everyone else into it — which is fine for the 56% in zone 6b and wrong for the other 44%. Here is the actual split.

Zone	ZIP codes	Share
6b	39	56%
6a	28	40%
7a	3	4%

Zones are published per ZIP code, so yours is exact even though the metro's is not. The hardiness tool will tell you which one you are in.

Your freeze dates

Last spring freeze April 23 – May 14

First fall freeze October 1 – October 22

Those are the earliest and latest medians among the 7 stations serving this metro — not an average, and not one station standing in for the rest. Half of years freeze later than a station's own median.

The spread is the point. Even in a metro that is one hardiness zone throughout, its stations disagree about the last spring freeze. Hardiness zone and frost date measure different things — a zone is the average annual coldest night, a freeze date is when the season turns — and a place can be uniform in one and varied in the other. Use the tools below with your own ZIP rather than the ends of this range.

Your growing season

NOAA publishes a growing-season length for each station, and across the 7 stations serving Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA it runs 140–178 days . That figure is published, not computed from the two freeze dates — subtracting one from the other gives the wrong answer wherever a season crosses New Year. Mean summer high (June–August) runs 75–82 °F , below the 90 °F point where cool-season crops reliably bolt. Summer rain over the same months runs 11.3–14.9" across those 7 stations, against the rough inch a week — about 13 inches over the same 92 days — that a vegetable garden is usually reckoned to want. At the middle station that is covered, so watering in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA is for the gaps between storms rather than the whole season. The inches are NOAA's published normals; the inch a week is a rule of thumb, and it takes no account of a 78 °F summer afternoon drying the soil faster than a cool one.

When to start seeds in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA

Every spring job for 63 crop dates, counted from this metro's own last spring freeze. Each is a range across all 7 stations — the earliest and latest that job falls anywhere in the metro — because no one station speaks for the whole area.

Crop	Job	When	Offset
Green Onions	Start indoors	February 26 – March 19	8 weeks before
Peppers	Start indoors	February 26 – March 19	8 weeks before
Broccoli	Start indoors	March 12 – April 2	6 weeks before
Cabbage	Start indoors	March 12 – April 2	6 weeks before
Collards	Start indoors	March 12 – April 2	6 weeks before
Kale	Start indoors	March 12 – April 2	6 weeks before
Leaf Lettuce	Start indoors	March 12 – April 2	6 weeks before
Peas	Direct sow	March 12 – April 2	6 weeks before
Spinach	Direct sow	March 12 – April 2	6 weeks before
Sweet Potato	Start indoors	March 12 – April 2	6 weeks before
Tomatoes	Start indoors	March 12 – April 2	6 weeks before
Bok Choy	Start indoors	March 19 – April 9	5 weeks before
Kohlrabi	Start indoors	March 19 – April 9	5 weeks before
Swiss Chard	Start indoors	March 19 – April 9	5 weeks before
Arugula	Direct sow	March 26 – April 16	4 weeks before
Baby Salad Greens	Direct sow	March 26 – April 16	4 weeks before
Beets	Direct sow	March 26 – April 16	4 weeks before
Green Onions	Direct sow	March 26 – April 16	4 weeks before
Mustard Greens	Direct sow	March 26 – April 16	4 weeks before
Okra	Start indoors	March 26 – April 16	4 weeks before
Radishes	Direct sow	March 26 – April 16	4 weeks before
Turnips	Direct sow	March 26 – April 16	4 weeks before
Cabbage	Set out	April 2 – April 23	3 weeks before
Carrots	Direct sow	April 2 – April 23	3 weeks before
Collards	Direct sow	April 2 – April 23	3 weeks before
Collards	Set out	April 2 – April 23	3 weeks before
Cucumbers	Start indoors	April 2 – April 23	3 weeks before
Green Onions	Set out	April 2 – April 23	3 weeks before
Kale	Direct sow	April 2 – April 23	3 weeks before
Kale	Set out	April 2 – April 23	3 weeks before
Kohlrabi	Direct sow	April 2 – April 23	3 weeks before
Kohlrabi	Set out	April 2 – April 23	3 weeks before
Leaf Lettuce	Direct sow	April 2 – April 23	3 weeks before
Pumpkins	Start indoors	April 2 – April 23	3 weeks before
Summer Squash	Start indoors	April 2 – April 23	3 weeks before
Winter Squash	Start indoors	April 2 – April 23	3 weeks before
Zucchini	Start indoors	April 2 – April 23	3 weeks before
Bok Choy	Direct sow	April 9 – April 30	2 weeks before
Bok Choy	Set out	April 9 – April 30	2 weeks before
Broccoli	Set out	April 9 – April 30	2 weeks before
Cilantro	Direct sow	April 9 – April 30	2 weeks before
Leaf Lettuce	Set out	April 9 – April 30	2 weeks before
Swiss Chard	Direct sow	April 9 – April 30	2 weeks before
Swiss Chard	Set out	April 9 – April 30	2 weeks before
Dill	Direct sow	April 16 – May 7	1 week before
Bush Beans	Direct sow	April 30 – May 21	1 week after
Cucumbers	Set out	April 30 – May 21	1 week after
Pumpkins	Direct sow	April 30 – May 21	1 week after
Pumpkins	Set out	April 30 – May 21	1 week after
Summer Squash	Direct sow	April 30 – May 21	1 week after
Summer Squash	Set out	April 30 – May 21	1 week after
Sweet Corn	Direct sow	April 30 – May 21	1 week after
Tomatoes	Set out	April 30 – May 21	1 week after
Winter Squash	Direct sow	April 30 – May 21	1 week after
Winter Squash	Set out	April 30 – May 21	1 week after
Zucchini	Direct sow	April 30 – May 21	1 week after
Zucchini	Set out	April 30 – May 21	1 week after
Cucumbers	Direct sow	May 7 – May 28	2 weeks after
Okra	Direct sow	May 7 – May 28	2 weeks after
Okra	Set out	May 7 – May 28	2 weeks after
Peppers	Set out	May 7 – May 28	2 weeks after
Southern Peas	Direct sow	May 7 – May 28	2 weeks after
Sweet Potato	Set out	May 7 – May 28	2 weeks after

The week offsets are conventional extension guidance and vary by variety; the freeze dates they are counted from are measured. For a single date rather than a range, run when do I start my seeds? with your own ZIP code.

What survives the winter changes across Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA

Of 74 perennial fruits, nuts, berries, vegetables and herbs, 58 come through the winter in zone 7a and only 51 in zone 6a. That is a different garden at each end of the same metro.

Zone	ZIPs	Survive	Fail for being too warm
6a	28	51 of 74	0
6b	39	51 of 74	0
7a	3	58 of 74	1

The last column is the counterintuitive one, and it is why the totals do not simply rise as the winters get milder. Most temperate fruit needs a documented number of hours below about 45 °F to break dormancy and set a crop, so an apple fails in a winter that is too warm; currants and rhubarb cook in the summer heat that comes with it. See the full list with reasons.

Cautious — shortens the seasonMedian across stationsOptimistic

Last spring freeze: Plan to May 29 to be careful. Median April 23 – May 14 across 7 stations; April 9 is the optimistic end.
First fall freeze: Plan to September 20 to be careful. Median October 1 – October 22 across 7 stations; November 4 is the optimistic end.

NOAA publishes these as probabilities, not averages — the middle figure is a median, so half of years fall either side of it. The cautious end is the 10% tail: in roughly nine years in ten the freeze falls on the safe side of it.

The 7 stations behind these numbers

All 7 NOAA stations whose normals this page quotes, spanning about 100 km north to south. Every one is named with its identifier in the station list below — this page does not single one out, because no one station speaks for a whole metro area.

A relative sketch, not a map with a projection: longitude is adjusted for latitude so the shape is not stretched, and there is no basemap. For the one station nearest a specific address, with its real distance, use the ZIP lookup above.

Every figure above comes from these, and each is named so you can check it. Which station serves a given ZIP code, and how far away it is, varies across the metro — the table below gives it per ZIP code rather than this page averaging it.

Station	NOAA ID	Last spring freeze	First fall freeze	Season
Benton 3 NE, PA	USC00360582	May 4	October 11	159 days
Dushore, PA	USC00362323	May 14	October 2	143 days
Francis E Walter Dam, PA	USC00363018	May 7	October 6	153 days
Mahanoy City 2 N, PA	USC00365344	April 30	October 22	175 days
Mt Pocono Mountains AP, PA	USW00054789	May 6	October 8	154 days
Pleasant Mt 1 W, PA	USC00367029	May 14	October 1	140 days
Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	USW00014777	April 23	October 20	178 days

These are medians, not averages — NOAA publishes freeze dates as a probability distribution, and half of years freeze later than the date shown.

Every ZIP code in Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA

Zones are published per ZIP code, not per metro area, so this is the exact answer rather than the metro area's average. The station column is the nearest one to that ZIP code's centroid and how far away it is — the same figure the tools use, shown here so you can see which ZIP codes are well covered and which are reaching.

ZIP code	USDA zone	Nearest NOAA station	Distance
18201	6b	Mahanoy City 2 N, PA	20.6 km
18202	6b	Mahanoy City 2 N, PA	15.7 km
18219	6b	Mahanoy City 2 N, PA	18.8 km
18221	6b	Francis E Walter Dam, PA	20.6 km
18222	6b	Francis E Walter Dam, PA	24.9 km
18223	6b	Mahanoy City 2 N, PA	23.1 km
18224	6a	Francis E Walter Dam, PA	17.1 km
18234	6b	Mahanoy City 2 N, PA	23.1 km
18239	6b	Mahanoy City 2 N, PA	22.0 km
18241	6b	Mahanoy City 2 N, PA	12.4 km
18246	6b	Mahanoy City 2 N, PA	14.3 km
18249	6b	Mahanoy City 2 N, PA	17.2 km
18256	6b	Mahanoy City 2 N, PA	11.8 km
18403	6a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	25.2 km
18407	6a	Pleasant Mt 1 W, PA	18.0 km
18411	6a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	14.1 km
18414	6a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	23.2 km
18419	6a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	27.7 km
18420	6a	Pleasant Mt 1 W, PA	25.6 km
18424	6a	Mt Pocono Mountains AP, PA	16.4 km
18433	6a	Pleasant Mt 1 W, PA	21.6 km
18434	6a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	20.3 km
18440	6a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	25.3 km
18444	6a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	14.6 km
18447	6a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	21.6 km
18452	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	20.3 km
18471	6a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	21.9 km
18503	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	9.8 km
18504	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	10.2 km
18505	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	8.9 km
18507	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	4.7 km
18508	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	14.7 km
18509	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	12.9 km
18510	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	10.7 km
18512	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	15.2 km
18517	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	6.9 km
18518	7a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	4.7 km
18519	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	16.4 km
18602	6a	Francis E Walter Dam, PA	7.8 km
18612	6a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	21.2 km
18615	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	17.7 km
18617	6b	Benton 3 NE, PA	23.2 km
18618	6a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	26.5 km
18621	6a	Benton 3 NE, PA	21.2 km
18622	6a	Benton 3 NE, PA	6.7 km
18625	6a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	22.6 km
18627	6a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	24.8 km
18629	6a	Dushore, PA	21.9 km
18634	6b	Francis E Walter Dam, PA	25.8 km
18635	6b	Mahanoy City 2 N, PA	22.2 km
18636	6a	Benton 3 NE, PA	28.6 km
18640	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	4.2 km
18641	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	0.3 km
18642	7a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	4.6 km
18643	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	9.8 km
18644	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	13.0 km
18651	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	21.4 km
18655	6b	Benton 3 NE, PA	12.6 km
18656	6a	Benton 3 NE, PA	17.2 km
18657	6a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	28.6 km
18660	6b	Benton 3 NE, PA	27.7 km
18661	6a	Francis E Walter Dam, PA	4.8 km
18701	7a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	16.6 km
18702	6a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	11.7 km
18704	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	15.4 km
18705	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	11.9 km
18706	6b	Francis E Walter Dam, PA	18.3 km
18707	6b	Francis E Walter Dam, PA	16.1 km
18708	6a	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	20.2 km
18709	6b	Wilkes-Barre INTL AP, PA	15.1 km

ZIP-code positions are area centroids, so a large rural ZIP code's listed distance is measured from the middle of its area rather than from any particular address in it.

Your own ZIP

Work out your own dates

Each of these takes a ZIP code and answers for that ZIP alone, citing the station it used and how far away it is. There is a ZIP box in the header of every page.

What survives my winter?
Runs on the hardiness zone, so it answers for all of Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA at once — zone across 74 perennial fruits, berries, vegetables and herbs.
When do I start my seeds?
Dates every spring job from your own last freeze — sow indoors, set out, direct sow.
When do I sow the next round?
How often each crop is worth re-sowing, and when the next sowing is due.
What can I still plant?
Counts the growing days left before your first fall freeze, crop by crop.

Other places to compare

These metros span exactly the same zones — 6a–7a — so the same plants are in and out of range across them. The freeze dates and the spring calendar are their own.

Gardening in Pennsylvania — zones 5b– 8a covers the whole state: how its 1,793 ZIP codes divide between 6 hardiness zones, and the freeze dates across every NOAA station in it.

Other metro areas in PA:

Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA Zones 6b–7a
Lancaster, PA Zone 7a
Reading, PA Zones 6b–7a
Johnstown, PA Zones 6a–6b
York-Hanover, PA Zones 6b–7a
Erie, PA Zones 6a–7a
State College, PA Zones 6a–6b
Chambersburg, PA Zones 6b–7b
Williamsport, PA Zones 6a–6b
Lebanon, PA Zone 7a
Gettysburg, PA Zones 6b–7a
Altoona, PA Zone 6b

All 388 metro areas, by state

Gear

If you want to act on this

Each link opens an Amazon search rather than a product we picked. We have not tested these and do not rank them — the search is the honest version, and you choose.

Trunk wrapZone 6a is cold enough that winter sun on a young trunk does more damage than the cold does.
Row cover and frost clothThe season here closes at the first fall freeze dated above — a cover buys back some of those days at the end.
MulchFor the perennials nearest their cold limit in zone 6a, where an insulated crown is what decides whether they come back.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. That costs you nothing extra, and it buys no influence over anything on this site: the dates come from NOAA normals and the zones from the USDA, and no product affects either.

Sources

Where these numbers come from

The hardiness zone is the USDA 2023 Plant Hardiness Zone Map, published per ZIP code by PRISM at Oregon State. The freeze dates are NOAA's 1991–2020 Climate Normals, read from every station whose normals cover a ZIP code in this metro. Nothing here is estimated, and no station stands in for another.

This page names no single station on purpose. Picking one to represent a metro sounds reasonable and is not: the station serving the most ZIP codes is an artifact of where ZIP centroids happen to fall, and it selects a lock on the Monongahela for Pittsburgh and a far southern suburb for Chicago. A range across every station is true; a single cited date for a whole metro is not.

All metro areas