Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,956.
Bell Township’s best subject grades are a B+ for cost of living and civic life; its weakest is a D for incomes. Only 93 of Pennsylvania’s 1,749 towns score lower on incomes. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 75% of U.S. towns. Bell Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Bell Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Bell Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 792 in 1860, 2,010 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2008 and 6 maps from 1906 on.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Bell Township, 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 Bell Township.
Bell Township beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 12. 21% of Bell Township adults smoke cigarettes, where Pennsylvania’s towns sit at 17% and U.S. towns at 14%. 16% of adults report frequent physical distress in Bell Township.
| Bell Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 17% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 19% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Bell Township | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 10.8% | 7.7% |
| More uninsured adults | 8.1% | 5.8% |
| More smokers | 20.7% | 15.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents leave Bell Township for work: only 2% work in town. 17% of Bell Township residents live below the poverty line, above both Pennsylvania’s towns (7.6%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Jobs based in Bell Township fell to 172 in 2023, 144 fewer than in 2013.
| Bell Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $57,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 1.8% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Bell Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Bell Township’s July high is 82°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 66% of U.S. communities. Since 1996, 31 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Bell Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
People 65 and older are 26% of residents (20% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 16% of residents (22% statewide). The median age in Bell Township is 49.9 years. Bell Township has lost 2.7% of its people since 2020, down to 1,956 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Bell Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 49.9 years | 43.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 26% | 21% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 17% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 26% | 29% | 29% |
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2 points. Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Bell Township | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.4% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.6% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.4% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.9% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.1% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 17.9% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 16.8% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.9% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 44.6% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 9.8% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 13.4% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.6% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8.7% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,000, single groups can be off by several points
| Bell Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.5% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
None within 15 miles of Bell Township; the nearest are
About 1 of every 100 Bell Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
Township in Pennsylvania, US
Bell Township is a township in Jefferson County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,010 at the 2020 census, down from 2,056 at the 2010 census. It was named for John H. Bell, a prominent citizen of the township.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Bell Township.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bell Township | — | — | B+ | — | B− | C− |
| Punxsutawney | #651 | B− | A− | B | B− | C+ |
| Young Township | — | — | B+ | — | B− | C |
| McCalmont Township | — | — | A | — | B− | C− |
| Gaskill Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Henderson Township | — | — | A− | — | B− | C− |
| Canoe Township | — | — | A− | — | B | D |
| Banks Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Bell Township, Young Township, McCalmont Township, Henderson Township and Canoe Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Bell Township, Young Township, McCalmont Township, Henderson Township and Canoe Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Gaskill Township and Banks Township aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Bell Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $173,000. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.