Laflin was incorporated as a borough in 1889. It was likely named for one of the owners of the Laflin & Rand Powder Company. The following year, in 1890, the population of the newly-formed borough was just over two hundred. Coal mining led to a population boom in the region. Laflin witnessed its greatest increase between 1970 and 1980, when the number of residents grew by over 313%.
Geography
Laflin is located at. According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of, all of it land.
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,502 people, 612 households, and 452 families residing in the borough. The population density was 1,111.0 people per square mile. There were 632 housing units at an average density of 467.5 per square mile. The racial makeup of the borough was 95.61% White, 0.13% African American, 3.66% Asian, 0.13% from other races, and 0.47% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.60% of the population. There were 612 households, out of which 26.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.9% were married couplesliving together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.1% were non-families. 24.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.90. In the borough the population was spread out, with 20.5% under the age of 18, 4.5% from 18 to 24, 24.8% from 25 to 44, 33.4% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 88.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.9 males. The median income for a household in the borough was $55,658, and the median income for a family was $69,226. Males had a median income of $50,433 versus $29,375 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $29,581. About 1.5% of families and 2.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.0% of those under age 18 and 3.9% of those age 65 or over.
