In the past, anthracite coal mining and a shirt factory, the McAdoo Manufacturing Company, provided gainful employment to the populace.

[4] According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 0.3 square miles (0.78 km2), all land.

It is on the crest of Broad Mountain and straddles the divide between the Delaware and Susquehanna watersheds.

Interstate 81 runs a short distance west of town and parallel to PA 309.

[7] The most common ancestries in McAdoo are Polish (15.5%), Italian (14.1%), Slovak (10.6%), Irish (7.8%), and Greek (5.0%) Of the 1,034 households, 23.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 12.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.3% were non-families.

All McAdoo residents are zoned to the Hazleton Area High School in Hazle Township.

[11] Hazleton Public Transit bus route 20 runs via McAdoo to Kelayres.