Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 1,772, settled in 1884.
The best of Metal Township’s subject grades is an A+ for cost of living; the weakest is a C− for health. On cost of living, just 52 of Pennsylvania’s 1,749 towns do better. Buchanan State Forest, at 2,154 acres with 7.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Metal Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Metal Township’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 Metal Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,721 in 2000, 1,768 in 2020. The archive holds 4 maps from 1939 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Metal 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 Metal Township.
Metal Township beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 21% of Metal Township adults smoke cigarettes, against 17% in Pennsylvania’s towns and 14% across U.S. towns. 16% of adults report frequent physical distress in Metal Township.
| Metal Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 17% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 35% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 19% | 19% |
| What stands out | Metal Township | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 10.7% | 7.7% |
| More uninsured adults | 7.8% | 5.8% |
| More smokers | 20.9% | 15.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by Fannett-Metal SD. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fannett-Metal El SchLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 175 | B |
| Fannett-Metal SHSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 124 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Most working residents leave Metal Township for work: only 10% work in town. Metal Township’s average trip to work is 29 minutes, where Pennsylvania’s towns sit at 26 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. Since 2013, Metal Township has added 140 jobs, to 292 in 2023.
| Metal Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 29 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 9.9% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 10% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 68% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Metal Township since 1984.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Metal Township has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 21° and about 31 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Buchanan State Forest | 7.3 mi | 2,154 |
| 2. State Game Lands Number 76 | 2.1 mi | 1,017 |
| 3. Cowans Gap State Park | 1.4 mi | 174 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Metal Township
About 3 of every 100 Metal Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
3 places in Metal Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
Township in Pennsylvania, US
Metal Township is a township that is located in Franklin County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 1,768 at the time of the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Metal Township.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metal Township | — | — | A+ | — | C+ | C− |
| Letterkenny Township | #739 | B− | B+ | — | C+ | C |
| Todd Township | — | — | B+ | — | B+ | C+ |
| St. Thomas Township | #825 | C+ | B | — | B− | C+ |
| Dublin Township · Dublin Township | — | — | B | — | C | C |
| Peters Township | #774 | C+ | B− | — | B− | C+ |
| Fort Loudon | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Fannett Township | — | — | B+ | — | C+ | C+ |
Metal Township, Todd Township, Dublin Township and Fannett Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Metal Township, Letterkenny Township, Todd Township, St. Thomas Township, Dublin Township, Peters Township and Fannett Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Fort Loudon isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Dublin Township and Dublin Township are one community, graded once. Compare Metal Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
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+.
