Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Glenolden is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C+ overall, 779th of 1032 graded towns in Pennsylvania, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is health: it is healthier than 50% of U.S. towns. Its lowest everyday mark is in safety: its crime rate is higher than 65% of U.S. towns, with 8 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2024. A typical home there costs about $240K, 2.6 years of the Philadelphia metro’s $91K median household income. Glenolden is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 95% of U.S. towns. Among 1,037 Pennsylvania towns, just 10 have a higher January low than Glenolden. The biggest park or preserve is Glenolden Park, at 26 acres.
Where Glenolden beats most towns.
Where Glenolden’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 Glenolden is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 873 in 1900, 7,223 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 6 maps from 1894 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Glenolden. Close and well known come first.
Big draw7 mi Stadium & arenaLincoln Financial Field
Big draw9 mi MuseumUSS New Jersey
Big draw6 mi Stadium & arenaXfinity Mobile Arena
Big draw8 mi Ancient siteIndependence Hall3.0M visitors a year
Big draw8 mi MuseumEastern State Penitentiary
5 mi Park & preserveSchuylkill RiverLincoln Financial Field: The original uploader was Betp at French Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 3.0 · USS New Jersey: Camera Operator: PH3 BRYANT, Public domain · Xfinity Mobile Arena: Jen Smith, CC BY 3.0 · Independence Hall: Mys 721tx, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Eastern State Penitentiary: Davidt8, Public domain · Schuylkill River: Emy111 at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Glenolden, 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 Glenolden.
Glenolden has homes that are cheap against local pay and is safe by national standards but not by Pennsylvania’s.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 85% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 10 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Glenolden.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by Interboro SD. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glenolden SchLargest public elementary schoolGrades 1–8 | Grades 1–8 | 614 | C |
| Liberty Baptist Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 26 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave Glenolden for work: only 2% work in town. Jobs based in Glenolden grew to 1,805 in 2023, 350 more than in 2013. 12% of residents live below the poverty line in Glenolden, above both Pennsylvania’s towns (7.6%) and U.S. towns (9.6%).
| Glenolden | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.3% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $73,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Glenolden has chilly winters and warm summers. Glenolden’s July high is 87°F, where Pennsylvania’s towns sit at 85°F and U.S. towns at 85°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 25.7 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 83% of Pennsylvania’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 180 to 114 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Glenolden’s property crime rate is 21.8 per 1,000 residents. Glenolden reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 65% report less.
| Glenolden | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 21.8 per 1,000 residents | 6.7 | 11.5 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.7 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
At 2.6 years of the Philadelphia metro’s $91K median household income, the typical home (about $240K) costs less against local pay than in 78% of Pennsylvania towns; that ratio is one input to its C+ for cost of living.
The typical Glenolden home is worth about $240,000, about the same as a year ago, 16% below the Pennsylvania typical home.
| Glenolden | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 77% | 78% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,209 a month | $1,114 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Pennsylvania average. The median age in Glenolden is 37.8 years. 27% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 35% across Pennsylvania.
| Glenolden | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 37.8 years | 43.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 24% | 20% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 21% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 27% | 29% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.9 points. Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Glenolden | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 15.6% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 10.5% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 9.4% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.4% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.6% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.3% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.1% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.1% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.7% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 39% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.5% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.3% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 15.5% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
| Glenolden | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 4.2% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Glenolden Park | 0.2 mi | 26 |
| 2. Old Glenolden Parks | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
43% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Glenolden. Glenolden tracks Pennsylvania closely on all 26 CDC measures. 18% of adults smoke cigarettes in Glenolden.
| Glenolden | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 38% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 16% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 17% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
37 within 15 miles of the center of Glenolden
About 8 of every 100 Glenolden residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
5 notable people were born in Glenolden.
Borough in Pennsylvania, United States
Glenolden is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 7,223 at the 2020 census, up from 7,153 at the 2010 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Glenolden.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glenolden | #779 | C+ | C+ | C+ | B− | B− |
| Folcroft | #1008 | D | C+ | C− | D | C |
| Norwood | #295 | A− | C+ | A | B− | A− |
| Darby Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Ridley Township | #480 | B+ | C | B | C+ | B+ |
Darby Township isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Glenolden with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Glenolden grades C+ overall, better than 41% of U.S. towns and #779 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades B− for health, C+ for safety and B− for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
5 notable people were born here, including Dave Kern and Eugene Clark.
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