Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Orwigsburg is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades A overall, 168th of 1032 graded towns in Pennsylvania, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $84K. It also does better than most on safety: it reports less crime per resident than 78% of U.S. towns. A typical home there costs about $290K, 4.2 years of the Pottsville area’s $68K median household income. Only 96 of Pennsylvania’s 1,717 towns score higher on civic life. Orwigsburg’s median rent is $685 a month, below both Pennsylvania’s towns ($1,116 a month) and U.S. towns ($1,185 a month).
Where Orwigsburg beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Orwigsburg is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 773 in 1830, 3,000 in 2020. The archive holds 14 old photos and papers going back to 1995 and 6 maps from 1889 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Orwigsburg, 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 Orwigsburg.
Orwigsburg trades workers with Pottsville and other neighbors and is safe by national standards but not by Pennsylvania’s.
1.3 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves. Orwigsburg’s trail density stands at 0.6 miles per square mile.
| Orwigsburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.2% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Louis Fanelli Jr. Memorial Park | — | 3 |
| 2. Fishers Dam Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
One of its 2 schools is below, with the reason it’s listed. The public schools here belong to Blue Mountain SD. 2 public schools serve Orwigsburg, with 1,170 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blue Mountain El East SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 609 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Households in Orwigsburg have drawn federal disaster aid in 3 declared disasters, most recently in 2011. Compared with 85% of U.S. communities, expected storm and flood damage in the town is lower. Flood insurance has paid out on 17 claims here since 1979. 62% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by cold waves at 9%.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
At 8.9 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 59% of Pennsylvania’s graded towns.
The violent offense rate in Orwigsburg is 2 per 1,000 residents. The rate of thefts and burglaries in the town is 2.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Orwigsburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.6 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
13% of Orwigsburg adults report frequent physical distress. This Pennsylvania town beats the Pennsylvania average on 1 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 2.
| Orwigsburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 16% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 14% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 18% | 16% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 17% | 14% |
| What stands out | Orwigsburg | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 10.7% | 14.5% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11% | 8.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
For residents in Orwigsburg, the share who are 65 or older is 23%. Adults 18 to 34 are 13% of residents (22% statewide); children under 18 are 27% of residents (21% statewide). Here, a third of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree, against 35% in Pennsylvania as a whole.
| Orwigsburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 21% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 33% | 29% | 29% |
| Median age | 42 years | 43.2 years | 40.5 years |
58% women, 42% men
About 72 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±4.9 points). Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Orwigsburg | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 16.5% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.4% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.2% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 6.7% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.7% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.5% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 11.4% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14.2% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.4% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.9% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 40.2% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 9.3% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.2% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.5% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 14.8% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,000, single groups can be off by several points
The range runs from 20° on a January night to 85° on a July afternoon, with about 21 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Orwigsburg has about as many jobs (1,460) as working residents, but only 104 people both live and work here. Jobs based here grew from 1,111 in 2013 to 1,460.
The top destinations are Pottsville (7%), West Brunswick Township (5%) and North Manheim Township (4%). Just 8% of Orwigsburg’s working residents have a job in town. Jobs in Orwigsburg grew by 349 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 1,460. In Orwigsburg, 3.6% of residents live below the poverty line.
| Orwigsburg | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 3.6% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 27 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Home values are up 3.4% over the year to September 2026. A home in Orwigsburg typically sold within 11 days of listing. A third of the homes sold in Orwigsburg went for more than their asking price.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Orwigsburg. Close and well known come first.
39 mi Theme parkHersheypark3.0M visitors a year
30 mi Theme parkDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom26 mi Theme parkKnoebels Amusement Resort
10 mi Park & preserveRoadside America
6 mi Park & preserveHawk Mountain Sanctuary
39 mi Stadium & arenaHersheypark StadiumHersheypark: Michael Gray, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom: Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Roadside America: Mark Fleisher, President and CEO of Aim Advertising in Lewisburg, PA,, Public domain · Hawk Mountain Sanctuary: Zeete, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hersheypark Stadium: 45BearsFan, CC BY-SA 4.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Orwigsburg
About 2 of every 100 Orwigsburg residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Orwigsburg is a borough in Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. The borough was named for its founder, Peter Orwig, in 1796. Orwigsburg was the original county seat until the seat was moved to Pottsville in 1851. The population was 3,002 at the time of the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Orwigsburg.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orwigsburg | #168 | A | B− | A− | B+ | B+ |
| West Brunswick Township | #622 | B | C | — | B+ | B+ |
| North Manheim Township | #607 | B | B | — | B+ | C+ |
West Brunswick Township and North Manheim Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Orwigsburg with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Orwigsburg grades A overall, better than 92% of U.S. towns and #168 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades B+ for health, A− for safety and B+ for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
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