Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Allentown grades D overall, 1021st among Pennsylvania's 1032 graded towns, mostly because of schools and health. Its public schools trail 88% of Pennsylvania towns on state tests and graduation. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 87% of the country. One bright spot: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 97% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 96% of U.S. towns, with 16 places on the National Register. 21% of residents live below the poverty line in Allentown, above both Pennsylvania’s towns (7.6%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Its National Register listings include Trout Hall and Neuweiler Brewery. On civic life, just 62 of Pennsylvania’s 1,717 towns do worse.
Where Allentown beats most towns.
Its 16 National Register listings are more than in 98% of Pennsylvania towns with a listing.
Census counts: 486 in 1790, 125,845 in 2020. The archive holds 24 old photos and papers going back to 1858 and 6 maps from 1939 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Allentown is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for schools (better than 12%), so the D overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Allentown. Close and well known come first.
3 mi Theme parkDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
Big draw40 mi MuseumLynnewood Hall
in town Stadium & arenaPPL Center
16 mi Park & preserveLehigh River
33 mi National Historical ParkValley Forge National Historical Park1.8M visitors a year
in town MuseumAllentown Art MuseumDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom: Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lynnewood Hall: Shuvaev, CC BY-SA 3.0 · PPL Center: Hunter Kahn, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lehigh River: The original uploader was Malepheasant at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0 · Valley Forge National Historical Park: The original uploader was JGHowes at English Wikipedia. (Original text: en:User, Attribution · Allentown Art Museum: Alphageekpa (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Allentown, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Allentown.
Allentown trades workers with Upper Macungie Township and other neighbors and is safe by national standards but not by Pennsylvania’s; it also scores below Bethlehem and its other neighbors on health.
17 miles of trail in 37 parks and preserves. The trail density in Allentown is 1.0 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Lehigh Parkway, 344 acres with 1.2 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. South Mountain Reservoir Park | 2.5 mi | 99 |
| 2. Cedar Creek Parkway | 2 mi | 112 |
| 3. Lehigh Parkway | 1.2 mi | 344 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Each of its 4 graded neighbors has a higher School Grade than its D, South Whitehall Township highest at A.
Its public schools are run by Allentown City SD. Two of its 33 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| South Mountain MSLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 972 | D− |
| William Allen HSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 3,074 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
All 4 graded neighbors score healthier than its D, from Bethlehem (C+) to South Whitehall Township (A−).
Among 1,035 Pennsylvania towns, just 3 have a higher share of adults 18 to 64 who have no health insurance than Allentown. 77% of Allentown adults had a checkup this year. Allentown beats the Pennsylvania average on 1 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 12.
| Allentown | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 6.9% | 8.1% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 19% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 24% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Allentown | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.3% | 8.8% |
| More uninsured adults | 18.3% | 5.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 26.9 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 84% of Pennsylvania’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 2,591 to 2,140 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Allentown’s violent crime rate is 2.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Allentown | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.6 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 14.2 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Allentown has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 20° and about 33 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Allentown has about as many jobs (45,007) as working residents, but only 8,222 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Allentown for work: only 16% work in town. The top destinations are Upper Macungie Township (9%), Bethlehem (8%) and South Whitehall Township (4%).
| Allentown | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 16% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $55,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 9% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Home values rose 38% in five years, to about $316K, against 23% across Pennsylvania. 60.9% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 48.2% across Pennsylvania.
The typical Allentown home is worth about $316,000, up 3.8% in a year, 10% above the Pennsylvania typical home. 43% of households own their home in Allentown.
| Allentown | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 43% | 78% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 61% | 44% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,317 a month | $1,114 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
310 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 40 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 56% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 310 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Allentown.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
8 within 15 miles of the center of Allentown
About 7 of every 100 Allentown residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Pennsylvania.
2 colleges in town.
16 places in Allentown on the National Register of Historic Places.
51 notable people were born in Allentown.
City in Pennsylvania, United States
Allentown is a city in eastern Pennsylvania, United States. The county seat of Lehigh County, it is the third-most populous city in Pennsylvania, with a population of 125,845 as of the 2020 census. It is also the most populous city in the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the nation as of 2020. Founded in 1762, Allentown is located on the Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long (175 km) tributary of the Delaware River. It is the largest of three adjacent cities, including Bethlehem and Easton in Lehigh and Northampton counties, in the Lehigh Valley region. Allentown is located 48 miles (77 km) north of Philadelphia a…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Allentown.
All 4 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D; Bethlehem (C−) is closest. South Whitehall Township next door grades higher for schools (A to Allentown’s D) and lower for cost of living (D to C).
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allentown | #1021 | D | C | C | D | D |
| Salisbury Township | #901 | C | C− | — | C | B− |
| South Whitehall Township | #336 | A− | D | — | A | A− |
| Fullerton | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Whitehall Township | #900 | C | C− | C | B− | B |
| Dorneyville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Cetronia | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Bethlehem | #942 | C− | C− | C+ | C | C+ |
Salisbury Township and South Whitehall Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Fullerton, Dorneyville and Cetronia aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Allentown with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Allentown grades D overall, better than 6% of U.S. towns and #1021 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades D for health, C for safety and D for schools. Schools is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 3.7 years of the area's median household income ($84,587 across the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
51 notable people were born here, including Amanda Seyfried and Lil Peep.
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