Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Lewisburg's standout: its schools outperform 97% of the state's. Overall it grades A, 180th among Pennsylvania's 1032 graded towns. Residents are healthier than 80% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 96% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is hazard risk: FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 80% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 99% of U.S. towns, with 4 places on the National Register. Lewisburg’s average trip to work is 12 minutes, against 26 minutes in Pennsylvania’s towns and 25 minutes across U.S. towns. On civic life, just 46 of Pennsylvania’s 1,717 towns do better. Lewisburg is home to Bucknell University.
Where Lewisburg beats most towns.
Packwood House-American Hotel
Census counts: 914 in 1830, 5,158 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1870 and 6 maps from 1893 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Lewisburg is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lewisburg, 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 Lewisburg.
Lewisburg is shaped by its college students and draws workers from East Buffalo Township and beyond, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Pennsylvania (mostly inland flooding).
42.8% of residents are enrolled in college, against 6.1% statewide, which pulls the median age down. Only 41.1% of households own their home, against 69.3% across Pennsylvania.
6% of residents are under 18 in Lewisburg. Adults 18 to 34 are 50% of residents (22% statewide); children under 18 are 6% of residents (21% statewide). The median age in Lewisburg is 26.4 years.
| Lewisburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 6% | 20% | 22% |
| Median age | 26.4 years | 43.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 42% | 29% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 21% | 18% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.9 points. Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Lewisburg | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 3.4% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 2.6% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 42.6% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 7.7% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 7.4% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.5% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.4% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.6% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.8% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.6% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.3% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.7% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.2% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 23.1% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 19.1% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
1.3 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Saint Anthonys Street Park, at 20 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Saint Anthonys Street Park | 0.5 mi | 20 |
| 2. Lewisburg Area Recreation Park | 0.4 mi | 9 |
| 3. Green Park | — | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
2,986 jobs are based in Lewisburg, 2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 11.5 minutes, against 26.3 across Pennsylvania.
About one in 4 of Lewisburg’s working residents works in town. Lewisburg’s median household income is $55,000. Since 2013, Lewisburg has added 1,145 jobs, to 2,986 in 2023.
| Lewisburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 21% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 23% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $55,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 7,347 U.S. towns with household incomes like Lewisburg’s, it is healthier than 99%, so its A− isn’t only a matter of income. Its widest gap with Pennsylvania is diabetes: 7.5% of its 4,616 adults have diabetes, against 11.6% statewide.
22% of Lewisburg adults have high blood pressure. Lewisburg beats the Pennsylvania average on 13 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 3. 7.5% of Lewisburg adults have diabetes.
| Lewisburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 34% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 18% | 16% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 16% | 17% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 7.5% | 11% | 12% |
| What stands out | Lewisburg | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 7.5% | 11.6% |
| Fewer adults with high blood pressure | 21.5% | 32.8% |
| More adults in frequent mental distress | 20.4% | 16.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 97% of Pennsylvania towns, with expected losses of about $316 per resident a year; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on. 287 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 38 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1979, 287 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lewisburg.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Lewisburg has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 20° and about 29 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Lewisburg home is worth about $332,000, up 3.7% in a year, 16% above the Pennsylvania typical home.
| Lewisburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 41% | 78% | 73% |
| Median rent | $997 a month | $1,116 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Lewisburg
College town 43 of every 100 Lewisburg residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
4 places in Lewisburg on the National Register of Historic Places.
21 notable people were born in Lewisburg.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Lewisburg is a borough in Union County, Pennsylvania, United States, 30 miles (48 km) south by southeast of Williamsport and 60 miles (97 km) north of Harrisburg. The population was 5,158 as of the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Union County. Located in central Pennsylvania's Susquehanna Valley, on the West Branch Susquehanna River, it is home to Bucknell University. Its 19th-century downtown, centered around Market Street, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Lewisburg is the principal city of the Lewisburg Micropolitan Statistical Area, and is also part of the larger Bloomsburg–Berwick–Sunbury Combined Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Lewisburg.
It grades higher overall than all 4 graded towns on its borders; East Buffalo Township (A) comes closest. West Chillisquaque Township next door grades lower for schools (B+ to Lewisburg’s A+) and higher for cost of living (A− to B−).
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lewisburg | #180 | A | B− | — | A+ | A− |
| Buffalo Township | #618 | B | B− | — | B+ | B+ |
| East Buffalo Township | #242 | A | D | — | A+ | A− |
| Kelly Township | #303 | A− | B− | — | A+ | A− |
| West Chillisquaque Township | #603 | B | A− | — | B+ | C |
| Linntown | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Lewisburg, Buffalo Township, East Buffalo Township, Kelly Township and West Chillisquaque Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Linntown isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Lewisburg with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Lewisburg grades A overall, better than 91% of U.S. towns and #180 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades A− for health and A+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
That is 4.3 years of the area's median household income ($76,404 across the Lewisburg, PA area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
21 notable people were born here, including Tasker H. Bliss and John Shaffer.
