York County, PA

County Profile

462,924 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for York County, PA.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

70out of 100
Area Score
Top 13% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 12% of 1,463 counties measured76
SchoolsTop 49% of 1,377 counties measured51
Growth737th of 1,453 counties measured49
Housing affordabilityTop 45% of 1,462 counties measured75
Climate919th of 1,463 counties measured64
Physical resilienceTop 14% of 1,463 counties measured84
AccessTop 19% of 1,463 counties measured93
Economic stabilityTop 12% of 1,463 counties measured87
The quick read

York County ranks in the top 12% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.7% and median household income of $84,829.

In the public schools here, 52% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.1 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 1,340 units authorized over the past twelve months, 22% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
462,924
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$84,829
Top 13% nationally
Density
512/sq mi
904.4 sq mi of land
Median age
41.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
York County
Pennsylvania
Nearest major airport
MDT
19 mi · Harrisburg Intl
Median home value
$248,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.7%, lower than in 65% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 3.2% over the past year, to 235,790 employed residents.

28% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 70% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $84,829 is higher than in 87% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$63,11161st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$61,90260th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,5222024 ACS 5-Year$84,829Top 13%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$5562024 ACS 5-Year$41,601Top 20%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$60,605Top 35%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year8.2%Top 15%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year28.3 minBottom 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year27.6%Top 30%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year76.9%45th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026235,790Top 10%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+1.2%Top 36%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+3.2%Top 4%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026244,97290th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year82.5%Top 15%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%78th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−1.0%Top 10%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.7%Top 35%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year12.4%77th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.82.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.7% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. 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.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202485k73k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $84,829 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

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

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

52% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 66% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.1 students for every full-time teacher across 105 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
105
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.1
across all schools here
Math proficiency
52.1%
Bottom 48% in Pennsylvania
Reading proficiency
65.9%
Bottom 48% in Pennsylvania
The 12 largest of 105 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Dallastown Area SHSDallastown Area SD2,04617.375%79%
Central York HSCentral York SD1,75614.867%73%
William Penn SHSYork City SD1,68117.221%34%
York County School of TechnologyYork County School of Technology1,61514.363%72%
Dallastown Area Intermediate SchDallastown Area SD1,51916.252%76%
South Western SHSSouth Western SD1,38015.082%83%
Red Lion Area SHSRed Lion Area SD1,36312.765%75%
Northeastern SHSNortheastern York SD1,18916.175%89%
Spring Grove Area HSSpring Grove Area SD1,16314.482%86%
Red Land SHSWest Shore SD1,06115.667%81%
York Academy Regional CS · charterYork Academy Regional CS1,05816.042%60%
Emory H Markle MSSouth Western SD1,04614.351%66%

51.8% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Pennsylvania’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 3% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 97.1, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the York-Hanover, PA Metro Area is up 48% over five years, and up 6.1% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $4,006 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.61% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,335, some 12% above the $1,193 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,335 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $53,400 a year, about 63% of the median household income here of $84,829.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,193 a month.

A median home at $248,600 costs 2.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $98,446, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
97.1

Prices here run about 3% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the York-Hanover, PA Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
29.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.5×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,335
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,193
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$248,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against York County’s median household income of $84,829, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe York-Hanover, PA Metro Area’s figure202397.1Bottom 39%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the York-Hanover, PA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+6.1%89th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the York-Hanover, PA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+47.7%63rd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the York-Hanover, PA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+90.3%45th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.02024 ACS 5-Year2.5Bottom 49%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year76.3%60th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2642024 ACS 5-Year189,85795th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,060Bottom 38%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,796Bottom 30%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,335Bottom 34%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$242024 ACS 5-Year$1,193Bottom 17%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$2,7232024 ACS 5-Year$248,60072nd percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$602024 ACS 5-Year$4,00693rd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$1,4312024 ACS 5-Year$98,446Top 15%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year1.61%92nd percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year29.1%Bottom 36%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2522024 ACS 5-Year89472nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.5%11th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.9%7th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±7722024 ACS 5-Year8,27488th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

49/ 100
Ranks 737 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2022 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

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.

Federal tax returns show York County gained about 0.6% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $63,111, close to the $61,902 of households that moved out.

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

Units permitted
1,340
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.9
Top 49% 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. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.6%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
53%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$63,111
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$61,902
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Lancaster County, PA 1,940 people · 12% of arrivals
  2. Cumberland County, PA 1,427 people · 8.5% of arrivals
  3. Adams County, PA 1,347 people · 8.0% of arrivals
  4. Baltimore County, MD 1,288 people · 7.7% of arrivals
  5. Dauphin County, PA 1,137 people · 6.8% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Adams County, PA 1,449 people · 10% of departures
  2. Cumberland County, PA 1,440 people · 10.0% of departures
  3. Lancaster County, PA 1,329 people · 9.2% of departures
  4. Dauphin County, PA 807 people · 5.6% of departures
  5. Baltimore County, MD 537 people · 3.7% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420252k1k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+17%).

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.

Air quality measures a median index of 44, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

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
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year672024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals42.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals21°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals85°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year12024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year442024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals44°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
44
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
67
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

84 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hurricane and earthquake, with inland flooding alone responsible for 65% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 86% of measured US counties.

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, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

York County records 3.2 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 12.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 13.8 per 100,000 residents in York County.

Homicide
3.2
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
12.5
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
13.8
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
15.1
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe York County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Harrisburg Intl at 19 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year90.3%Top 24%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle19 miTop 24%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 26%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year7.7%Top 29%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
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
70
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

ZIP areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.