York-Hanover, PA

Metro Area Profile

462,924 residents. Jobs, income, development, climate and physical risk across the York-Hanover, PA metropolitan area.

78out of 100
Area Score
Top 5% of 379 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 14% of 379 published metros77
GrowthTop 45% of 821 published metros53
Housing affordabilityTop 27% of 822 published metros100
Climate475th of 822 published metros64
Physical resilienceTop 11% of 822 published metros83
AccessTop 19% of 822 published metros93
Economic stabilityTop 3% of 822 published metros92
The quick read

York-Hanover ranks in the top 14% of published metro profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.8% and median household income of $84,829.

Residential permitting has slowed: 1,340 units authorized over the past twelve months, 22% below the prior year.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published metro profiles, placing York-Hanover in the top 11% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
462,924
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$84,829
Top 12% nationally
Density
512/sq mi
904.4 sq mi of land
Median age
41.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Metro area
York-Hanover, PA
Nearest major airport
MDT
19 mi · Harrisburg Intl
Median home value
$248,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.8% is lower than 71% of the 379 measured US metros.

Employment grew 2.9% over the past year, to 234,905 employed residents.

Household income is higher than at least 88% of measured US metros.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$1,522$84,829Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$556$41,601Top 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate8.4%Bottom 5%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute28.3 minTop 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher27.6%Top 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment234,905Top 28%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)1.4%Top 35%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)2.9%Top 3%June 2026
Labor force244,306Top 28%June 2026
Labor force participation65.7%Top 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$61,080Top 48%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$48,170Top 46%2025 OEWS
Metro employment183,590Top 32%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.6%Bottom 9%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.8%Bottom 29%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/065.92.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.8% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Largest occupations — York-Hanover, PA
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand7,360$43,380
Stockers and Order Fillers5,340$37,030
Fast Food and Counter Workers5,240$27,920
General and Operations Managers4,740$99,640
Retail Salespersons4,680$30,480
Cashiers4,040$29,360

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,193 takes 17% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.9 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
16.9%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.9×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,193
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$248,600
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.93Bottom 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate76.3%Top 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±264189,857Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$24$1,193Top 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$2,723$248,600Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income16.9%Bottom 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate4.4%Bottom 1%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
53/ 100
Top 45% of 821 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, measured from 2024 to 2025.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 3% since 2020, reaching 471,240 in 2024.

At 2.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US metros.

Units permitted
1,340
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.9
Top 46% nationally
Year over year
−22%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
20.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024471k457k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population.

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 85°F and January a low of 21°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 42.1 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station YORK AP, 7.7 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation42.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low21°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high85°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing44°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

83 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are hurricane, earthquake and heat wave.

HurricaneElevated
Heat waveModerate
EarthquakeModerate
DroughtModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: winter weather, inland flooding, strong wind, lightning, cold wave, ice storm, tornado, wildfire, avalanche, hail.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. This value is the population-weighted mean of all component counties; expected annual loss is their sum. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 19 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Harrisburg IntlMDT19 mi10,001 ft
Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood MarshallBWI52 mi10,503 ft
Washington Dulles IntlIAD78 mi11,500 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.