Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
5.1 times the library visits per person than the typical Pennsylvania town.
New Cumberland gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $291K, 3.6 years of the Harrisburg metro’s $81K median household income. It grades A− overall, 323rd of 1032 graded towns in Pennsylvania. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 87% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. On the plus side, crime is low: it reports less per resident than 77% of U.S. towns. New Cumberland’s typical journey to work is 18 minutes, below both Pennsylvania’s towns (26 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). On civic life, just 127 of Pennsylvania’s 1,717 towns do better. William Black Homestead is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where New Cumberland beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
William Black HomesteadWhere New Cumberland’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 New Cumberland is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 284 in 1840, 7,507 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1930 and 7 maps from 1906 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around New Cumberland. Close and well known come first.
12 mi Theme parkHersheypark3.0M visitors a year
16 mi National MonumentCarlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument
12 mi Stadium & arenaHersheypark Stadium
12 mi MuseumHershey's Chocolate World
12 mi Stadium & arenaHersheypark Arena
2 mi Stadium & arenaFNB FieldHersheypark: Michael Gray, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · Hersheypark Stadium: 45BearsFan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hershey's Chocolate World: Phillyfan0419, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hersheypark Arena: Hersheyarena4ever at English Wikipedia, Public domain · FNB Field: Whammies Were Here, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in New Cumberland, 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 New Cumberland.
New Cumberland reports less crime than Fairview Township or any other graded neighbor and has less tooth loss than most of Pennsylvania, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Pennsylvania (mostly inland flooding).
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 99% of Pennsylvania towns, with expected losses of about $497 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on. 254 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 58 properties have flooded more than once.
Of the losses FEMA expects in New Cumberland, 89% come from inland flooding. Since 1978, New Cumberland has seen 254 flood insurance claims paid out. Households here have drawn federal disaster aid in 2 declared disasters, most recently in 2011.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
One of its 4 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. Its public schools are run by West Shore SD. 2 public schools serve New Cumberland, with 797 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hillside El SchLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–4 | Grades K–4 | 408 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
That grade tops all 4 graded towns on its borders; Fairview Township (A−) comes closest. Violent crime is rare: 6 reported in 2025, 0.8 per 1,000 residents.
Pennsylvania has less reported crime than most states, so among its own towns New Cumberland sits closer to the middle. For New Cumberland, the level of violent crime is 0.8 per 1,000 residents.
| New Cumberland | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 7.8 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.8 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The average commute for its 3,496 working residents takes 18.1 minutes, against 26.3 across Pennsylvania.
The top destinations are Harrisburg (14%), Lower Allen Township (8%) and Hampden Township (6%). Only 4% of working residents stay in New Cumberland for work; the rest commute out. Jobs based in New Cumberland grew to 1,352 in 2023, 132 more than in 2013. New Cumberland: 21% of workers work remotely from home.
| New Cumberland | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 21% | 12% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.2% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 10% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The range runs from 22° on a January night to 86° on a July afternoon, with about 30 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Its widest gap with Pennsylvania is tooth loss: 7.8% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 14.5% statewide.
For adults in New Cumberland, the share who get no exercise outside work is 23%. Two figures for adults locally: 30% have high blood pressure, 25% have been diagnosed with depression.
| New Cumberland | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 34% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 24% | 23% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | New Cumberland | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 7.8% | 14.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
In New Cumberland, 17% of residents are 65 or older. The age mix tracks Pennsylvania closely: no broad group is more than 4 points off. 37% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 35% across Pennsylvania.
| New Cumberland | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 29% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 21% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 19% | 20% | 22% |
| Median age | 40.2 years | 43.2 years | 40.5 years |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.7 points. Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women.
| New Cumberland | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.9% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.5% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 4.8% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 17.8% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.4% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 14.5% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.3% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.5% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.4% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.5% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.9% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.5% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.5% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.6% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
0.5 miles of trail wind through 8 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is New Cumberland Borough Park, at 33 acres. Parks and preserves here: 8, covering 67 acres.
| New Cumberland | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.6% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Peiffer Memorial Arboretum and Nature Preserve | 0.3 mi | 16 |
| 2. New Cumberland Borough Park | 0.1 mi | 33 |
| 3. Memorial Field | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Homes sold in New Cumberland spent a median 6 days on the market. Home values are up 3.4% over the year to September 2026. Its going rate for rent comes in at $980 a month.
| New Cumberland | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 70% | 78% | 73% |
| Median rent | $980 a month | $1,116 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
5 within 15 miles of the center of New Cumberland
About 6 of every 100 New Cumberland residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Pennsylvania.
4 notable people were born in New Cumberland.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
New Cumberland is a borough in the easternmost region of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. New Cumberland was incorporated on March 21, 1831. The population was 7,507 at the 2020 census. The borough is noted for its historic downtown which includes landmarks like the historic West Shore Theater, Borough Park and the yearly Apple Festival, which gathers hundreds of vendors and thousands of visitors. New Cumberland is part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle metropolitan statistical area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with New Cumberland.
It grades higher overall than all 5 graded towns on its borders; Fairview Township (A−) comes closest.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New Cumberland | #323 | A− | B | A− | B | B |
| Lower Allen Township | #429 | B+ | C | B | B | A− |
| Fairview Township | #351 | A− | B− | A− | B | B |
| New Market | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Swatara Township | #769 | C+ | B− | C | C+ | B |
| Lemoyne | #364 | A− | B− | — | B | A− |
| Harrisburg | #1029 | D− | B | D | D− | D |
Lemoyne reports no FBI crime data of its own. New Market isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare New Cumberland with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. New Cumberland grades A− overall, better than 80% of U.S. towns and #323 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades B for health, A− for safety and B for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes, by national standards. Pennsylvania has less crime than most states, so among its own towns New Cumberland 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.
4 notable people were born here, including Stephen Zack and Anna Chandler.
