Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 4,886. More miles of trail than almost any town in Pennsylvania.
Lower Alsace Township's standout: it has 75 miles of trail and 49% conserved land. Overall it grades B−, 677th among Pennsylvania's 1032 graded towns. The median household earns $76K. Its weakest subject is schools: its schools rank behind 76% of the state's. 49% of the land in Lower Alsace Township is conserved, above both the Pennsylvania town median (8.2%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). The biggest place to walk is Mount Penn Preserve, 1,276 acres with 30.3 miles of trail. Lower Alsace Township is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 70% of U.S. towns.
Where Lower Alsace Township beats most towns.
49.3% of the town is conserved land, across 6 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Lower Alsace Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 4,906 in 1980, 4,716 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1850 and 8 maps from 1894 on.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lower Alsace Township. Close and well known come first.
24 mi Theme parkDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
35 mi GardenLongwood Gardens2 mi Stadium & arenaSovereign Center
28 mi Theme parkDutch Wonderland
27 mi National Historical ParkValley Forge National Historical Park1.8M visitors a year
20 mi MuseumEphrata CloisterDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom: Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Longwood Gardens: P. Hughes, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dutch Wonderland: FlugKerl2, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Valley Forge National Historical Park: The original uploader was JGHowes at English Wikipedia. (Original text: en:User, Attribution · Ephrata Cloister: 1549bcp at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lower Alsace Township, 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 Lower Alsace Township.
Lower Alsace Township keeps more of its land conserved than most of Pennsylvania and sends most of its workers to Reading and beyond.
Its 1,516 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 99% of Pennsylvania towns. Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #1 of 1,037 in Pennsylvania.
Lower Alsace Township’s trail density is 15.6 miles per square mile, above both Pennsylvania’s towns (0.4) and U.S. towns (0.4). 75 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. More trails than any other town in Pennsylvania.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mount Penn Preserve | 30.3 mi | 1,276 |
| 2. Antietam Lake Park | 17.4 mi | 470 |
| 3. Neversink Mountain Preserve | 13.7 mi | 415 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by Antietam SD. Its one school is below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stony Creek El SchLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–3 | Grades K–3 | 345 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Lower Alsace Township has 423 jobs for its 2,389 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Lower Alsace Township for work: only 2% work in town. 5.8% of Lower Alsace Township residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Lower Alsace Township has lost 23 jobs, to 423 in 2023.
| Lower Alsace Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 2.2% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 5.8% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 78% of U.S. communities. Since 1987, 12 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lower Alsace Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Lower Alsace Township beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 40% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Lower Alsace Township.
| Lower Alsace Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 38% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Lower Alsace Township | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 8.5% | 5.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Lower Alsace Township has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 21° and about 27 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
5 within 15 miles of the center of Lower Alsace Township
About 5 of every 100 Lower Alsace Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Pennsylvania.
Where Lower Alsace Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Township in Pennsylvania, US
Lower Alsace Township is a township in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,716 at the 2020 census. By area, it is the smallest township in Berks County.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Lower Alsace Township.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Alsace Township | #677 | B− | C+ | — | C− | B+ |
| Mount Penn | #514 | B+ | B | — | C− | B+ |
| Reading | #1010 | D | B | C | D− | D− |
| Pennside | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Exeter Township | #591 | B | C− | B | A− | B+ |
| Cumru Township | #584 | B | C | — | B− | B+ |
| Alsace Township | #400 | B+ | C | — | A− | B |
| St. Lawrence | — | — | B− | — | A− | A− |
St. Lawrence has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Lower Alsace Township, Mount Penn, Cumru Township, Alsace Township and St. Lawrence report no FBI crime data of their own. Pennside isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Lower Alsace Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Lower Alsace Township grades B− overall, better than 52% of U.S. towns and #677 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades B+ for health and C− for schools, and has the most trail per square mile in the state. Schools is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
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