Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Catasauqua is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B overall, 634th among Pennsylvania's 1032 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 61% of the country. A typical home there costs about $289K, 3.4 years of the Allentown metro’s $85K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 100% of U.S. towns, with 3 places on the National Register. Catasauqua’s trail density is 1.3 miles per square mile, above both Pennsylvania’s towns (0.4) and U.S. towns (0.4). Only 21 of Pennsylvania’s 1,749 towns score higher on history. Catasauqua is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 87% of U.S. towns.
Where Catasauqua beats most towns.
George Taylor House is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 1,932 in 1860, 6,518 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1778 and 7 maps from 1894 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Catasauqua is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Catasauqua. Close and well known come first.
7 mi Theme parkDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
4 mi Stadium & arenaPPL Center
14 mi Park & preserveLehigh River
37 mi National Historical ParkValley Forge National Historical Park1.8M visitors a year12 mi Ski areaBlue Mountain Resort44 runs · 1,077 ft vertical
27 mi National park siteMiddle Delaware National Scenic River4.1M visitors a yearDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom: Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia, 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 · Middle Delaware National Scenic River: Mike Serfas, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Catasauqua, 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 Catasauqua.
Catasauqua has home values climbing faster than Pennsylvania’s and has added a third more jobs in ten years, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Pennsylvania (mostly inland flooding).
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Catasaqua Park Complex | 0.2 mi | 17 |
| 2. Candy Cane Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by Catasauqua Area SD. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Innovative Arts Academy CS, with 477 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Francis H Sheckler El SchLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 589 | C |
| Innovative Arts Academy CSLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 477 | D− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Jobs based here grew from 767 in 2013 to 1,033.
Most working residents leave Catasauqua for work: only 3% work in town. Since 2013, Catasauqua has added 266 jobs, to 1,033 in 2023. The top destinations are Allentown (10%), Bethlehem (10%) and Upper Macungie Township (6%).
| Catasauqua | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 2.5% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $85,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Catasauqua has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. Catasauqua’s July high is 87°F, above both the Pennsylvania town median (85°F) and the median of U.S. towns (85°F).
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 89% of Pennsylvania towns, with expected losses of about $389 per resident a year; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on.
The FEMA risk score in Catasauqua is 66 of 100. Since 1978, 9 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Catasauqua.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Catasauqua beats the Pennsylvania average on 2 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 18% of Catasauqua adults binge drink.
| Catasauqua | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 18% | 16% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 17% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 34% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 38% | 36% |
| What stands out | Catasauqua | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 11.2% | 14.5% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 3.3% | 3.7% |
| More uninsured adults | 8.6% | 5.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
People 65 and older are 15% of residents (20% statewide). 23% of residents are under 18 in Catasauqua. 31% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 35% across Pennsylvania.
| Catasauqua | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 15% | 21% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 23% | 20% | 22% |
| Median age | 39.5 years | 43.2 years | 40.5 years |
46% women, 54% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.8 points. Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Catasauqua | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.8% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.2% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.1% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.6% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.6% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.9% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.2% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.6% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.9% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 34.7% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 17.7% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.8% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19.1% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.7% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Pennsylvania has less reported crime than most states, so among its own towns Catasauqua sits closer to the middle.
| Catasauqua | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 8 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.5 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Home values rose 38% in five years, to about $289K, against 23% across Pennsylvania.
The typical Catasauqua home is worth about $289,000, up 2.6% in a year, close to the Pennsylvania typical home.
| Catasauqua | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,031 a month | $1,116 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 74% | 78% | 73% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
9 within 15 miles of the center of Catasauqua
About 5 of every 100 Catasauqua residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Pennsylvania.
Where Catasauqua’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Catasauqua on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Catasauqua.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Catasauqua, referred to colloquially as Catty, is a borough in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. Catasauqua's population was 6,518 at the 2020 census. It is a suburb of Allentown in the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census. In 1839, Catasauqua was the location of the first manufactured anthracite iron in the nation. The borough was settled in 1805 and chartered in 1853.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Catasauqua.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catasauqua | #634 | B | B− | B− | C+ | B |
| Hanover Township | — | — | C | — | C+ | C− |
| Whitehall Township | #900 | C | C− | C | B− | B |
| Fullerton | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Hanover Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Hanover Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Fullerton isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Catasauqua with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Catasauqua grades B overall, better than 56% of U.S. towns and #634 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades B for health, B− for safety and C+ for schools.
Yes, by national standards. Pennsylvania has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Catasauqua sits nearer the middle.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
3 notable people were born here, including Buck Freeman and Dale Matthewson.
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