Intercourse, Pennsylvania (vicinity). Amish carriage shop, 1942
Intercourse’s story
198 years in pictures
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1942 and 6 maps from 1906 on.
- 1828Intercourse is settled
IntercoursePA
Photo: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States · CC BY-SA 2.0
Population
1,588
Census survey, 2020–24
Median home value
$460K
Census ACS
Household income
$84K
median
Median age
35.2
years
Jobs based here
1,160
A job hub
Is Intercourse a good place to live?
Intercourse’s mean commuting time is 12 minutes, below both the Pennsylvania town median (26 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Only 2 of the 1,036 Pennsylvania towns we compare have a lower share of residents below the poverty line than Intercourse. We don’t grade Intercourse yet; the figures below are still real.
What makes Intercourse stand out
Where Intercourse beats most towns.
A growing town
Intercourse has grown 17% from 2010 to 2020
1,274 counted in 2010 and 1,494 in 2020.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts
Getting set up
Moving to Intercourse: who provides what
Intercourse is unincorporated, so Lancaster County and regional agencies provide most services.
PowerPPL Electric Utilities18.6¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterLeacock Twp Mun Auth water systemNo health-based violations in 5 years · EPAEPA
Internet6 providers99% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & county servicesLancaster CountyLancaster County provides services here
Register to voteOnlineIn Pennsylvania you can register online until 15 days before Election Day, in person until 15 days before Election Day, or by mail (received 15 days before).vote.govWho runs elections hereLancaster County Board of ElectionsLancaster County; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Jan 2025
ZIP codes17529, 17572, 1753417529 82% · 17572 10% · 17534 8%Census 2020
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Intercourse.
Work & commute
A job hub: Intercourse has 2.4 jobs for every working resident and draws in 1,122 commuters
Employers in Intercourse added 426 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 1,160. Most working residents leave Intercourse for work: only 8% work in town. For workers locally, the share who work from home is 20%. The top destinations are Leacock Township (25%), Earl Township (6%) and Salisbury Township (6%).
8%work in town
| Intercourse | Typical Pennsylvania town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 20% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $84,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
Where working residents work
In Intercourse8%
Leacock Township25%
Earl Township6%
Salisbury Township6%
Paradise Township5%
6 mi
median commute distance
1,160
jobs based in Intercourse
A job hub
jobs vs. working residents
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Climate
Four seasons and pleasant summers in Intercourse
July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 22° and about 34 inches of snow falls in a winter.
34″snow a winter
Typical low → high °F
Winter24–42°
Spring41–63°
Summer62–84°
Fall45–66°
Nov 1
typical first frost
Apr 14
typical last frost
+1.8°
vs. the 20th-century average
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Health
Compared with most of Pennsylvania and the rest of the country, fewer of Intercourse’s adults binge drink
Intercourse: 17% of adults report frequent physical distress. Across all 26 CDC measures, Intercourse beats Pennsylvania on 1 and trails on 15. Two figures for adults locally: 25% say their health is fair or poor, 19% smoke cigarettes.
| Intercourse | Typical Pennsylvania town | Typical U.S. town | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 19% | 19% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 11% | 12% |
26 measures vs. Pennsylvania
1 better10 too close to call15 worse
| What stands out | Intercourse | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 83.1% | 79.2% |
| More uninsured adults | 12.1% | 5.8% |
Lancaster General Hospital
10.6 mi away · emergency room
None
primary care, dental or mental-health shortage
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Outdoors
8.5% of the land in Intercourse is protected from building
Intercourse’s park or preserve takes up 11 acres.
8.5%conserved
8.5%
conserved · 103 of 1,208 acres
0.0 mi
of trails
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Intercourse Community Park | — | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Natural hazards
Top of a moderate hazard risk in Intercourse: inland flooding
For Intercourse, the FEMA risk score is 49 of 100. Expected losses in Intercourse break down as 65% from inland flooding and 16% from hurricanes. Flood insurance has paid out on 8 claims locally since 1978.
49risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
Inland floodingHurricanesEarthquakes
8
paid flood claims since 1978
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Housing
Homes in Intercourse sell for about $425K
80% of households are owner-occupiers in Intercourse.
$425Kmedian sale price
1
homes sold in September
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Nearby attractions
All 246 attractions →Hersheypark and 65 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Intercourse. Close and well known come first.
34 mi Theme parkHersheypark3.1M visitors a year
6 mi Theme parkDutch Wonderland
26 mi GardenLongwood Gardens
5 mi MuseumRailroad Museum of Pennsylvania
11 mi MuseumEphrata Cloister
31 mi MuseumWinterthur Museum, Garden and LibrarySources: National Park Service · ski areas © OpenSkiMap / OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata · Wikipedia readership · photos via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credits
Hersheypark: Epicgenius, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dutch Wonderland: FlugKerl2, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Longwood Gardens: P. Hughes, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania: Dough4872, Public domain · Ephrata Cloister: 1549bcp at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library: Photo by and (c)2007 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man), CC BY-SA 2.5
Keep exploring
Everything we know about Intercourse
16pages on Intercourse
The big questions
Out and about
After high school
Colleges nearby
8 within 15 miles of the center of Intercourse
Saint Joseph's University - LancasterUniversity or college · Private nonprofit · Lancaster7.7 mi$32,933 tuitionLancaster County Career and Technology CenterCommunity college · Public · Willow Street9.2 miMillersville University of PennsylvaniaUniversity or college · Public · Millersville13.5 mi$11,128 in-state tuition
About 2 of every 100 Intercourse residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
A job hub
Every workday, about 1,122 people come to Intercourse for work
Where Intercourse’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
1,160jobs based in Intercourse
8%of working residents work in town
6 mimedian commute distance
Census LEHD 2023
About Intercourse
Unincorporated community in Pennsylvania, US
Intercourse is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Leacock Township, Lancaster County, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, 10 miles (16 km) east of Lancaster on Pennsylvania Route 340. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,494, up from 1,274 at the previous census. It is about 8 miles away from Blue Ball, a town with a similarly unusual name. Intercourse is a popular site for tourists because of its location in Amish country and its sexually suggestive name. The movie Witness was filmed in Intercourse as well as other parts of the surrounding area, and For Richer or Poorer was set there, though not filmed in Intercourse. Because of the town's unusual name, …
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 2.1 sq mi
- ZIP code
- 17534
- Area code
- 717
Questions about Intercourse
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Intercourse, PA a good place to live?
We don’t grade Intercourse yet; the figures below are still real.