Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Lansford gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $98K, 1.2 years of the Allentown metro’s $85K median household income. It grades C− overall, 977th among Pennsylvania's 1032 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. The median household income is $45K, and 24% of residents live below the poverty line, and its public schools trail 89% of Pennsylvania towns on state tests and graduation. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 99% of U.S. towns, with 1 place on the National Register. Lansford’s average trip to work is 44 minutes, above both the Pennsylvania town median (26 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). Only 43 of Pennsylvania’s 1,749 towns score higher on history.
Where Lansford beats most towns.
Where Lansford’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 Lansford is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 2,206 in 1880, a peak of 9,632 in 1930, 4,141 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1850 and 8 maps from 1889 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lansford, 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 Lansford.
Lansford trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it reports violent crime at about twice the Pennsylvania rate.
4.2 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. The trail density in Lansford is 2.8 miles per square mile.
| Lansford | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 2.8 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.1% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Ashton Hill Park | 0.4 mi | 8 |
| 2. John F. Kennedy Memorial Park | 0.1 mi | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Homes are within reach (about $98K for the typical one, A+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 23 miles. At 1.2 years of the Allentown metro’s $85K median household income, the typical home (about $98K) costs less against local pay than in 98% of Pennsylvania towns; that ratio is one input to its A+ for cost of living.
52% of Lansford households own their home. Typical home values rose 7% in the year to September 2026. Lansford’s median rent is $922 a month.
| Lansford | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 52% | 78% | 73% |
| Median rent | $922 a month | $1,116 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 3,896 U.S. towns with household incomes like Lansford’s, it is healthier than 65%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
Lansford beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 21% of adults smoke cigarettes in Lansford.
| Lansford | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 16% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 16% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 38% | 36% |
| What stands out | Lansford | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 11.2% | 5.8% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 20.5% | 14.5% |
| More smokers | 20.8% | 15.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Lansford has 266 jobs for its 1,642 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here fell from 475 in 2013 to 266.
Most working residents leave Lansford for work: only 3% work in town. Since 2013, Lansford has lost 209 jobs, to 266 in 2023. The top destinations are Rush Township (5%), Nesquehoning (4%) and Hazle Township (3%).
| Lansford | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $45,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.7% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Violent crime runs at 6 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Pennsylvania rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its C. At 29.4 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 87% of Pennsylvania’s graded towns.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Lansford has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 82°, January nights drop to 18° and about 43 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 65% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lansford. Close and well known come first.
26 mi Theme parkDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom33 mi Theme parkKnoebels Amusement Resort
27 mi Stadium & arenaPPL Center
8 mi MuseumAsa Packer Mansion
18 mi State parkHickory Run State Park
25 mi Park & preserveRoadside AmericaDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom: Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · PPL Center: Hunter Kahn, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Asa Packer Mansion: Chris18240 (talk), Public domain · Hickory Run State Park: Mtruch, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Roadside America: Mark Fleisher, President and CEO of Aim Advertising in Lewisburg, PA,, Public domain
1 within 15 miles of the center of Lansford
About 2 of every 100 Lansford residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
9 notable people were born in Lansford.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Lansford is a county-border borough (town) in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is located 37 miles (60 km) northwest of Allentown and 19 miles south of Hazleton in the Panther Creek Valley about 72 miles (116 km) from Philadelphia and abutting the cross-county sister-city of Coaldale in Schuylkill County. The whole valley was owned and subdivided into separate lots by the historically important Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company, locally called the Old Company, which likely settled some structures on the lands by 1827. Lansford grew with the development of local anthracite coal mines and was named after Asa Lansford Foster, who was an adv…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Lansford.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lansford | #977 | C− | A+ | C | D | C− |
| Summit Hill | #749 | C+ | A− | A+ | D | C |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Lansford grades C− overall, better than 16% of U.S. towns and #977 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades C− for health, C for safety and D for schools. Jobs & income is its weak spot, with a D−.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A+.
9 notable people were born here, including Benjamin Bloom and Richard Marcinko.
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