Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Hamburg is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C+ overall, 798th of 1032 graded towns in Pennsylvania, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $55K. A typical home there costs about $299K, 3.7 years of the Reading metro’s $80K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 97% of U.S. towns, with 3 places on the National Register. On history, just 106 of Pennsylvania’s 1,749 towns do better. 2.4% of residents live below the poverty line in Hamburg, below both the Pennsylvania town median (7.6%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). The biggest park or preserve is Hamburg Community Park, at 29 acres.
Where Hamburg beats most towns.
Hamburg Public Library
Census counts: 329 in 1800, 4,270 in 2020. The archive holds 30 old photos and papers going back to 1862 and 6 maps from 1909 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 Hamburg is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hamburg, 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 Hamburg.
Hamburg is healthier than towns with similar incomes, has home values climbing faster than Pennsylvania’s and is safe by national standards but not by Pennsylvania’s.
| Hamburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 6.8% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Kaercher Creek Park | 0.4 mi | 16 |
| 2. Hamburg Community Park | 0.2 mi | 29 |
| 3. Hamburg Reservoir Watershed | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by Hamburg Area SD. Its one school is below. The largest public high school is Hamburg Area HS, with 674 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hamburg Area HSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 674 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Jobs based here grew from 1,274 in 2013 to 1,739.
Most working residents leave Hamburg for work: only 8% work in town. Jobs based in Hamburg grew to 1,739 in 2023, 465 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Tilden Township (6%), Maxatawny Township (6%) and Reading (6%).
| Hamburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $55,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 76% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 25 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Hamburg.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Hamburg has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 21° and about 21 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 21.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 79% of Pennsylvania’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 76 to 44 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 7,550 U.S. towns with household incomes like Hamburg’s, it is healthier than 76%, so its C+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Hamburg beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 40% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Hamburg.
| Hamburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 38% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 18% | 16% |
| What stands out | Hamburg | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 9.8% | 7.7% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.7% | 7.4% |
| More adults who have had a stroke | 4.2% | 3.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Home values rose 39% in five years, to about $299K, against 23% across Pennsylvania.
The typical Hamburg home is worth about $299,000, up 3.6% in a year, close to the Pennsylvania typical home. 66% of Hamburg households own their home.
| Hamburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 66% | 78% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,148 a month | $1,114 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Hamburg. Close and well known come first.
40 mi Theme parkHersheypark3.0M visitors a year
24 mi Theme parkDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom35 mi Theme parkKnoebels Amusement Resort
8 mi Park & preserveRoadside America
6 mi Park & preserveHawk Mountain Sanctuary
40 mi Stadium & arenaHersheypark StadiumHersheypark: Michael Gray, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom: Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Roadside America: Mark Fleisher, President and CEO of Aim Advertising in Lewisburg, PA,, Public domain · Hawk Mountain Sanctuary: Zeete, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hersheypark Stadium: 45BearsFan, CC BY-SA 4.0
4 within 15 miles of the center of Hamburg
About 3 of every 100 Hamburg residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
Where Hamburg’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Hamburg on the National Register of Historic Places.
3 notable people were born in Hamburg.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Hamburg (Pennsylvania German: Hambarig) is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,270 at the 2020 census. The town is thought to have been named after Hamburg, Germany; but it is likely that the name instead originates from a corruption of Bad Homburg.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Hamburg.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hamburg | #798 | C+ | C+ | C+ | C+ | C+ |
| Tilden Township | #647 | B− | B | B− | C+ | B |
| West Hamburg | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Windsor Township | #605 | B | B− | — | C+ | B |
Windsor Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. West Hamburg isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Hamburg with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Hamburg grades C+ overall, better than 40% of U.S. towns and #798 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades C+ for health, C+ for safety and C+ for schools.
Pennsylvania has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Hamburg 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 C+.
3 notable people were born here, including Bill Beckley and Richard Etchberger.
_08.jpg){kind=link}
