York, Pennsylvania

Area Profile

44,938 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for York, in York County.

54out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 32% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
Opportunity3,367th of 4,199 cities measured41
Schools3,212th of 4,162 cities measured28
Growth3,645th of 4,224 cities measured29
Housing affordabilityTop 49% of 4,218 cities measured67
Climate2,928th of 4,225 cities measured64
Physical resilienceTop 20% of 4,226 cities measured82
AccessTop 38% of 4,226 cities measured95
Economic stability3,600th of 4,226 cities measured35
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 6.1% and the Opportunity signal places York in the bottom 20%.

In the public schools here, 34% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.3 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 5 units authorized over the past twelve months, 96% below the prior year.

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
44,938
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$48,420
Bottom 20% nationally
Density
8,492/sq mi
5.3 sq mi of land
Median age
34.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Pennsylvania
Nearest major airport
MDT
16 mi · Harrisburg Intl
Median home value
$119,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 6.1% — higher than in all but 7% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 3.2% over the past year, to 20,768 employed residents.

Median household income of $48,420 is lower than in 80% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsYork County, PA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$63,11133rd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftYork County, PA’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$61,90227th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,8922024 ACS 5-Year$48,420Bottom 20%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,9982024 ACS 5-Year$26,308Bottom 24%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year20.6%Bottom 21%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year25.3 minTop 43%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year17.5%Bottom 42%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year65.2%19th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202620,768Bottom 24%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+0.5%Top 36%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+3.2%Top 2%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202622,12725th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year76.2%Bottom 43%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageYork-Hanover, PA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$61,080Bottom 19%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageYork-Hanover, PA Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$48,170Bottom 24%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year4.4%95th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.2%Bottom 33%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20266.1%Bottom 7%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year10.7%63rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/079.84.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 6.1% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, 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

202120222023202448k40k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $48,420 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.

34% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 50% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.3 students for every full-time teacher across 11 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
11
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.3
across all schools here
Math proficiency
34.0%
Bottom 19% in Pennsylvania
Reading proficiency
50.1%
Bottom 18% in Pennsylvania
All 11 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
York Academy Regional CS · charterYork Academy Regional CS1,05816.042%60%
West York Area HSWest York Area SD85113.367%77%
Devers SchYork City SD68616.010%21%
Lincoln CS · charterLincoln CS65317.214%27%
West York Area MSWest York Area SD64511.730%55%
Ferguson SchYork City SD62713.63%17%
Roundtown El SchCentral York SD57315.947%72%
Lincolnway El SchWest York Area SD40614.537%47%
Edgar Fahs Smith STEAM AcademyYork City SD38810.825%52%
Conewago El SchNortheastern York SD34314.362%72%
Crispus Attucks CS · charterCrispus Attucks CS7815.6——

66.4% 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 $2,938 a year in real estate taxes, about 2.45% 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 32% above the $1,014 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 110% of the median household income here of $48,420.

The typical renter household here spends 33% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,014 a month.

A median home at $119,700 costs 1.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $71,127, 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
33.0%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,335
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,014
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$119,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against York’s median household income of $48,420, 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 figure202397.1Top 33%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the York-Hanover, PA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+6.1%88th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the York-Hanover, PA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+47.7%69th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the York-Hanover, PA Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+90.3%47th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year1.7Top 21%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year43.7%6th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±6012024 ACS 5-Year19,50597th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,060Top 27%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,796Top 34%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,335Top 30%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$492024 ACS 5-Year$1,014Bottom 46%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,5342024 ACS 5-Year$119,70028th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$2232024 ACS 5-Year$2,93872nd percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,8012024 ACS 5-Year$71,127Bottom 39%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.24%2024 ACS 5-Year2.45%97th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year33.0%Bottom 27%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±522024 ACS 5-Year4281st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%53rd percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year8.0%55th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2892024 ACS 5-Year1,61297th percentileof 32,3302024 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

29/ 100
Ranks 3,645 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in 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 1% since 2020, reaching 45,241 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 5 units authorized in 2025, 96% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 5 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show York County, which contains York, 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 0.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
5
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.1
Bottom 7% nationally
Year over year
−96%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202445k45k
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. This is the figure for York County, PA. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20222023202420251390.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey.

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, 8.2 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

82 / 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 80% of measured US cities.

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). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
443
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,438
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

York's police department reported 443 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,438.

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.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by York’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. 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 the county around York (York County) rather than York itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and 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.

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 16 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year85.2%Bottom 32%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle16 miTop 45%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 45%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year10.4%Bottom 36%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Harrisburg IntlMDT16 mi10,001 ft
Baltimore/Washington Intl Thurgood MarshallBWI55 mi10,503 ft
Philadelphia IntlPHL79 mi12,000 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
54
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Other cities in York-Hanover, PA

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
HanoverYork County16,58468Hanover vs York
WeigelstownYork County15,48570Weigelstown vs York
ShilohYork County11,24671Shiloh vs York

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put York side by side with a similar place.

York vs UticaYork vs Fulton

Moving to York from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
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
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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 codes in York

2 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in York with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
1740439,374$78,506$195,80061
1740118,570$42,826$104,40051