Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Yes, by almost any measure. Collegeville earns an A+, 112th of 1032 graded towns in Pennsylvania. Its schools rank ahead of 94% of Pennsylvania towns, residents are healthier than 92% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates, and it reports less crime per resident than 83% of U.S. towns. The exception is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $581K for a typical one and 6.4 times the Philadelphia metro’s $91K median household income. Collegeville’s median age is 24.1 years, against 43.2 years in Pennsylvania’s towns and 40.5 years across U.S. towns. Collegeville is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 98% of U.S. towns. Collegeville is home to Ursinus College.
Where Collegeville beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Holy Cross Regional Catholic School | PK–8 | 565 |
| Providence Montessori School House LLC | PK–K | 36 |
| Providence Montessori School House | PK–K | 28 |
Its founding year, 1684, comes before those of 96% of the Pennsylvania towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 611 in 1900, 5,043 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1890 and 7 maps from 1894 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Collegeville is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for walkability (better than 98% of comparable towns) to D for cost of living (better than 12%), so the A+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Collegeville. Close and well known come first.
Big draw24 mi MuseumUSS New Jersey
Big draw18 mi MuseumLynnewood Hall
Big draw25 mi Stadium & arenaLincoln Financial Field
Big draw21 mi MuseumEastern State Penitentiary
Big draw25 mi Stadium & arenaXfinity Mobile Arena
Big draw23 mi Ancient siteIndependence Hall3.0M visitors a yearUSS New Jersey: Camera Operator: PH3 BRYANT, Public domain · Lynnewood Hall: Shuvaev, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lincoln Financial Field: The original uploader was Betp at French Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Eastern State Penitentiary: Davidt8, Public domain · Xfinity Mobile Arena: Jen Smith, CC BY 3.0 · Independence Hall: Mys 721tx, CC BY-SA 3.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Collegeville, 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 Collegeville.
Collegeville is shaped by its college students and is safe by national standards but not by Pennsylvania’s; it also has homes that cost more against local pay than most of Pennsylvania.
At 6.4 years of the Philadelphia metro’s $91K median household income, the typical home (about $581K) costs more against local pay than in 95% of Pennsylvania towns; that ratio is one input to its D for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $6,610, against $3,311 across Pennsylvania, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Collegeville’s median rent is $1,437 a month. The typical Collegeville home is worth about $581,000, up 2.6% in a year, about twice the Pennsylvania typical home.
| Collegeville | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,437 a month | $1,114 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 76% | 78% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its A for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $581K.
One of its 3 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holy Cross Regional Catholic School PrivateLargest elementary schoolGrades PK–8 | Grades PK–8 | 565 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
1.7 miles of trail in 5 parks and preserves. The trail density in Collegeville is 1.1 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Central Perkiomen Valley, at 49 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Central Perkiomen Valley | — | 49 |
| 2. Creekside Park | — | 9 |
| 3. Hunsberger Woods | — | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its widest gap with Pennsylvania is stroke: 2.1% of its 4,201 adults have had a stroke, against 3.7% statewide.
24% of adults have high blood pressure in Collegeville. Among 1,035 Pennsylvania towns, just 3 have a lower share of adults who have diabetes than Collegeville. 28% of adults have obesity in Collegeville.
| Collegeville | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 18% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 34% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.2% | 14% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 7% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Collegeville | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.1% | 3.7% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.5% | 14.5% |
| More binge drinkers | 24% | 18.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 7.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 66% of Pennsylvania’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 2 reported in 2025, 0.4 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
135 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 19 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 77% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 135 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Collegeville.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Collegeville has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 88°, January nights drop to 23° and about 13 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Collegeville has about as many jobs (1,882) as working residents, but only 119 people both live and work here. Jobs based here grew from 1,336 in 2013 to 1,882.
Most working residents leave Collegeville for work: only 5% work in town. 24% of Collegeville workers work from home. Jobs based in Collegeville grew to 1,882 in 2023, 546 more than in 2013.
| Collegeville | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 24% | 12% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $91,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 7.1% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
15 within 15 miles of the center of Collegeville
College town 38 of every 100 Collegeville residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
8 notable people were born in Collegeville.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Collegeville is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a suburb outside of Philadelphia on Perkiomen Creek. Collegeville was incorporated in 1896. It is the location of Ursinus College, which opened in 1869. As of the 2020 census, Collegeville had a population of 5,043.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Collegeville.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Collegeville | #112 | A+ | D | A− | A | A |
| Trappe | #87 | A+ | D | — | A | A |
| Lower Providence Township | #73 | A+ | D | A | A | A |
| Upper Providence Township | #283 | A− | D | B+ | A | A |
| Perkiomen Township | #197 | A | C− | — | A | A |
Trappe and Perkiomen Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Collegeville with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Collegeville grades A+ overall, better than 95% of U.S. towns and #112 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades A for health, A− for safety and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
8 notable people were born here, including Horace Ashenfelter and Elin Hilderbrand.
.JPG){kind=link}
