Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,766.
Franklin Township’s best subject grade is an A− for schools; its weakest is a C− for walkability. Franklin Township’s average trip to work is 32 minutes, above both the Pennsylvania town median (26 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Homes are expensive, about $227K for a typical one and 3.5 times the Scranton metro’s $65K median household income. On the outdoors, just 24 of Pennsylvania’s 1,751 towns do worse. Franklin Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Franklin 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 Franklin Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,601 in 2000, 1,712 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1905 and 5 maps from 1893 on.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in Franklin 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 Franklin Township.
Most working residents leave Franklin Township for work: only 4% work in town. Jobs based in Franklin Township grew to 232 in 2023, 87 more than in 2013. 12% of residents live below the poverty line in Franklin Township, against 7.6% in Pennsylvania’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns.
| Franklin Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $86,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Franklin Township beats the Pennsylvania average on 3 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 15% of Franklin Township adults report frequent mental distress.
| Franklin Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 16% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 19% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Franklin Township | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 10.2% | 14.5% |
| Fewer adults in fair or poor health | 16.7% | 18.7% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.9% | 8.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Franklin Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. The July high in Franklin Township is 82°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 18 to 34 are 16% of residents (22% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 43% of residents (38% statewide). Franklin Township’s median age is 46.5 years. Franklin Township has grown 3% since 2020, to 1,766 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Franklin Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 46.5 years | 43.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 22% | 21% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 20% | 20% | 22% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.5 points. Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Franklin Township | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.7% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.2% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 8.9% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.3% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.2% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.7% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.6% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 44.4% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 14.6% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.7% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.3% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.4% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 1,800, single groups can be off by several points
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 61% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Franklin Township since 2011.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Franklin Township. Close and well known come first.
12 mi National Historic SiteSteamtown National Historic Site61K visitors a year
34 mi LakeLake Wallenpaupack
19 mi State parkRicketts Glen State Park10 mi Theme parkRocky Glen Park
27 mi State parkHickory Run State Park
37 mi Ski areaCamelback Mountain Resort37 runs · 804 ft verticalSteamtown National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · Lake Wallenpaupack: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ricketts Glen State Park: en:User:Msitler, Public domain · Hickory Run State Park: Mtruch, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Camelback Mountain Resort: Calzarette at en.wikipedia, Public domain
13 within 15 miles of the center of Franklin Township
About 6 of every 100 Franklin Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Pennsylvania.
Township in Pennsylvania, US
Franklin Township is a township in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Back Mountain, a 118 square mile region in northern Luzerne County. The population was 1,712 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Franklin Township.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin Township | — | — | C | — | A− | B+ |
| Dallas Township | #245 | A | C− | A | A− | B+ |
| Kingston Township | #507 | B+ | C | — | A− | B+ |
| Exeter Township | — | — | C | — | B− | B− |
| Northmoreland Township | — | — | C+ | — | B− | B |
Franklin Township, Exeter Township and Northmoreland Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Franklin Township, Kingston Township, Exeter Township and Northmoreland Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Franklin Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
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