Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Lehighton is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B overall, 604th of 1032 graded towns in Pennsylvania, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is cost of living: homes are within reach, about $282K for a typical one, or 3.3 years of the Allentown metro’s $85K median household income. Lehighton is more walkable than 85% of U.S. towns. 50% of households own their home in Lehighton, against 78% in Pennsylvania’s towns and 73% across U.S. towns.
Where Lehighton beats most towns.
Census counts: 267 in 1850, 5,248 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1850 and 5 maps from 1922 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Lehighton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lehighton. Close and well known come first.
20 mi Theme parkDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
3 mi MuseumAsa Packer Mansion
20 mi Stadium & arenaPPL Center
15 mi State parkHickory Run State Park
40 mi National Historic SiteSteamtown National Historic Site61K visitors a year
29 mi Park & preserveLehigh RiverDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom: Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Asa Packer Mansion: Chris18240 (talk), Public domain · PPL Center: Hunter Kahn, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hickory Run State Park: Mtruch, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Steamtown National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · Lehigh River: The original uploader was Malepheasant at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lehighton, 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 Lehighton.
Lehighton is healthier than towns with similar incomes, trades workers with Allentown and other neighbors and sees little violent crime.
Its public schools are run by Lehighton Area SD. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Lehighton Area HS, with 630 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lehighton Area Elementary CenterLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 1,005 | B− |
| Lehighton Area HSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 630 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Lehighton has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 19° and about 27 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Lehighton has about as many jobs (2,392) as working residents, but only 238 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Lehighton for work: only 10% work in town. 13% of residents live below the poverty line in Lehighton. The top destinations are Allentown (6%), Mahoning Township (4%) and Franklin Township (4%).
| Lehighton | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 13% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $65,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 10% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 63% of U.S. communities. Since 1983, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lehighton.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Violent crime is rare: 3 reported in 2025, 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
Pennsylvania has less reported crime than most states, so among its own towns Lehighton sits closer to the middle. Lehighton’s property crime rate is 11.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Lehighton | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 11.2 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 9,866 U.S. towns with household incomes like Lehighton’s, it is healthier than 67%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Lehighton beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 38% of Lehighton adults have high blood pressure.
| Lehighton | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 34% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 16% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 18% | 16% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Lehighton | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 7.9% | 5.8% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.1% | 7.7% |
| More adults with high blood pressure | 38.3% | 32.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
0.3 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The trail density in Lehighton is 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Lehighton | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.9% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Baer Memorial Park | — | 14 |
| 2. Community Grove | — | 3 |
| 3. Colonel Jacob Weiss Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical Lehighton home is worth about $282,000, up 1.9% in a year, close to the Pennsylvania typical home.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of Lehighton
About 4 of every 100 Lehighton residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
5 notable people were born in Lehighton.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Lehighton () is a borough in Carbon County, in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Due in part to water power from the Lehigh River, Lehighton was an early center for U.S. industrialization. The Lehigh Valley Railroad was for years a major employer up until the post-World War II era when railroad and industry restructuring led to job and population losses. As of the 2020 U.S. census, Lehighton's population was 5,248. Lehighton is the most populous borough in Carbon County and still the county's business hub. The Lehigh River, a 109-mile-long (175 km) tributary of the Delaware River, flows through Lehighton.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Lehighton.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lehighton | #604 | B | B | B | B− | B− |
| Mahoning Township | #852 | C | B− | C | B− | B− |
| Franklin Township | #649 | B− | A− | B | B− | B− |
| Weissport | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Weissport isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Lehighton with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Lehighton grades B overall, better than 58% of U.S. towns and #604 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades B− for health, B for safety and B− for schools.
Yes, by national standards. Pennsylvania has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Lehighton 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 B.
5 notable people were born here, including Denny Seiwell and Christian Hackenberg.
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