Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 10,570, settled in 1867.
Northampton's standout: it is more walkable than 97% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades A, 233rd of 1032 graded towns in Pennsylvania. It reports less crime per resident than 88% of U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Canal Street Park, at 24 acres.
Where Northampton beats most towns.
Where Northampton’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 Northampton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 573 in 1800, 10,395 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 2009 and 6 maps from 1939 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Northampton. Close and well known come first.
8 mi Theme parkDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
6 mi Stadium & arenaPPL Center
15 mi Park & preserveLehigh River9 mi Ski areaBlue Mountain Resort44 runs · 1,077 ft vertical
39 mi National Historical ParkValley Forge National Historical Park1.8M visitors a year
27 mi National park siteMiddle Delaware National Scenic River4.1M visitors a yearDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom: Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · PPL Center: Hunter Kahn, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lehigh River: The original uploader was Malepheasant at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0 · Valley Forge National Historical Park: The original uploader was JGHowes at English Wikipedia. (Original text: en:User, Attribution · Middle Delaware National Scenic River: Mike Serfas, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Northampton, 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 Northampton.
Its A tops all 3 graded towns on its borders; Coplay (A−) comes closest. At 6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 74% of Pennsylvania’s graded towns.
At 3.6 per 1,000 residents, Northampton’s property crime rate is where Pennsylvania’s towns sit at 6.8 and U.S. towns at 11.5. Northampton’s violent crime rate is 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Northampton | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 3.6 per 1,000 residents | 6.8 | 11.5 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.8 | 1.7 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by Northampton Area SD. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Northampton Area HS, with 1,866 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Northampton Area MSLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,175 | C |
| Northampton Area HSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,866 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
1.9 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. At 0.7 miles per square mile, Northampton’s trail density is above both Pennsylvania’s towns (0.4) and U.S. towns (0.4).
| Northampton | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.6% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Canal Street Park | 0.1 mi | 24 |
| 2. Northampton Municipal Park Complex | — | 9 |
| 3. Twenty-Sixth Street Playground | — | 5 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Most working residents leave Northampton for work: only 5% work in town. Jobs based in Northampton fell to 2,375 in 2023, 346 fewer than in 2013. The average trip to work in Northampton is 28 minutes.
| Northampton | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $91,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 6.7% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 5.2% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The typical Northampton home is worth about $353,000, up 2.8% in a year, 23% above the Pennsylvania typical home.
| Northampton | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 70% | 78% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,174 a month | $1,114 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Northampton has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 20° and about 33 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Pennsylvania average. 18% of residents are under 18 in Northampton. 26% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 35% across Pennsylvania.
| Northampton | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 18% | 20% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 18% | 21% | 18% |
| Median age | 43 years | 43.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 26% | 29% | 29% |
50% women, 50% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±3.2 points. Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Northampton | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.5% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.5% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.9% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 17.2% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.3% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.4% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 17.3% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.9% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4.4% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 38.6% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 18.6% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 12.2% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 17.1% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.1% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 54% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 18 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Northampton.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Northampton beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 20% of Northampton adults binge drink.
| Northampton | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 16% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 16% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 34% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 78% | 79% | 79% |
| What stands out | Northampton | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 7.9% | 5.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
9 within 15 miles of the center of Northampton
About 5 of every 100 Northampton residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Pennsylvania.
10 notable people were born in Northampton.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Northampton is a borough in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. Its population was 10,395 as of the 2020 census. Northampton is located 7.8 miles (12.6 km) north of Allentown, 66.7 miles (107.3 km) northwest of Philadelphia, and 93.8 miles (151.0 km) west of New York City. The borough is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Northampton.
It grades higher overall than all 4 graded towns on its borders; North Catasauqua (B+) comes closest.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northampton | #233 | A | B− | A | B+ | B− |
| Allen Township | #640 | B | C− | — | B+ | B |
| Whitehall Township | #900 | C | C− | C | B− | B |
| North Catasauqua | #421 | B+ | B− | A− | C+ | B |
| Cementon | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Coplay | #505 | B+ | C+ | A− | B− | B− |
Allen Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Cementon isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Northampton with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Northampton grades A overall, better than 88% of U.S. towns and #233 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades B− for health, A for safety and B+ for schools.
That is 4.2 years of the area's median household income ($84,587 across the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metro 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−.
10 notable people were born here, including Dorothy Page and Julie Harhart.
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