It is located on the western bank of the Susquehanna River and has a total area of 5.0 square miles (12.9 km2).

In early July 1778, during the Revolutionary War, a large-scale raid by Butler's Rangers and their Iroquois allies entered the valley.

In the 1830s, the region entered a boom period and began shipping coal by the Pennsylvania Canal, and by the 1840s down the Lehigh Canal to Allentown, Philadelphia, Trenton, Wilmington, New York City, and other East Coast cities and ports.

After severe flooding ripped up the upper Lehigh Canal in the 1860s, the L&S was extended to the Delaware along the lower canal, keeping the markets of the big cities connected to the still growing Wyoming Valley collieries and breakers.

A second rail line was pushed up the Lehigh Gorge (the Lehigh Valley Railroad), enabling the resurgence of coal exportation to the East Coast cities; it also connected the region to the Erie Railroad and Buffalo, New York.

Subsequently, despite the local loss of industry, the fact that the population was 5,652 at the 2010 census[5] indicates that the former farmlands have been attractive to building developers.

U.S. Route 11 runs through the southern section of the town, connecting the boroughs of West Pittston and Wyoming.

PA 92 runs through the eastern portion of the borough, connecting West Pittston and Exeter Township.

Exeter Borough lies within the Wyoming Area School District.

She was recommended for the position by her grandfather, Mayor Joseph F. Coyne III, before his death.

On Monday, January 19, 2015, Cassandra Coleman resigned as mayor to take the position of Northeast Regional Director for Governor Tom Wolf.