Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Home to 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Oxford is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades C overall, 884th among Pennsylvania's 1032 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its schools outperform 62% of the state's. Expect to pay for it: the typical home is worth about $472K, 5.2 years of the Philadelphia metro’s $91K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 99% of U.S. towns, with 2 places on the National Register. 24% of residents live below the poverty line in Oxford, where Pennsylvania’s towns sit at 7.6% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Only 136 of Pennsylvania’s 1,749 towns score lower on health. Oxford is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns.
Where Oxford beats most towns.
Oxford Hotel
Census counts: 186 in 1850, 5,736 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1850 and 7 maps from 1904 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Oxford is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Oxford. Close and well known come first.
17 mi GardenLongwood Gardens
20 mi MuseumWinterthur Museum, Garden and Library
32 mi Stadium & arenaSubaru Park
24 mi LandmarkFort Christina
21 mi Theme parkDutch Wonderland
17 mi MuseumRailroad Museum of PennsylvaniaLongwood Gardens: P. Hughes, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library: Photo by and (c)2007 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man), CC BY-SA 2.5 · Subaru Park: Something Original (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Fort Christina: Jerrye & Roy Klotz MD, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Dutch Wonderland: FlugKerl2, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania: Dough4872, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Oxford, 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 Oxford.
Oxford trades workers with Philadelphia and other neighbors, but it has poverty well above the Pennsylvania rate and has many renters stretched by housing costs.
70.2% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 48.2% across Pennsylvania. The median property tax bill is $5,620, against $3,311 across Pennsylvania, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
45% of households own their home in Oxford. The typical Oxford home is worth about $472,000, up 3% in a year, 64% above the Pennsylvania typical home. Oxford’s median rent is $1,308 a month.
| Oxford | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 45% | 78% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,308 a month | $1,114 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by Oxford Area SD. One of its 3 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penn's Grove SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 528 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 91% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
14% of Oxford adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance. Oxford beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 11. 76% of Oxford adults had a checkup this year.
| Oxford | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 19% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 14% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 24% | 25% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 6.9% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Oxford | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 13.8% | 5.8% |
| More adults in fair or poor health | 26.8% | 18.7% |
| More adults who get no exercise | 32.4% | 23.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Oxford has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 23° and about 18 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
23.7% of residents live below the poverty line, against 11.7% across Pennsylvania, which weighs on its C for jobs and income. Only 44.6% of households own their home, against 69.3% across Pennsylvania.
Children under 18 are 28% of residents (21% statewide). The median age in Oxford is 36.1 years. Oxford has grown 2.7% since 2020, to 5,887 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Oxford | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 36.1 years | 43.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 21% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 33% | 29% | 29% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.5 points. Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Oxford | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 17.8% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.4% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.2% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13.3% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.2% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.9% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 9.6% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 5.6% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 11% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 18.2% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 31% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 8.8% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.3% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 13.6% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 19.1% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Oxford has about as many jobs (2,261) as working residents, but only 172 people both live and work here. Jobs based here grew from 1,307 in 2013 to 2,261.
Most working residents leave Oxford for work: only 7% work in town. Jobs based in Oxford grew to 2,261 in 2023, 954 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Philadelphia (5%), East Nottingham Township (4%) and New Garden Township (4%).
| Oxford | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 7.2% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Pennsylvania has less reported crime than most states, so among its own towns Oxford sits closer to the middle.
| Oxford | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.9 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.2 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
| Oxford | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 2.5% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Oxford Memorial Park | — | 2 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
3 within 15 miles of the center of Oxford
About 5 of every 100 Oxford residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Pennsylvania.
5,077 counted in 2010 and 5,736 in 2020; an estimated 5,887 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
2 places in Oxford on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Oxford.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Oxford is a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. Oxford is the closest town to Lincoln University. The population was 5,733 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Oxford.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oxford | #884 | C | C− | B | B | C− |
| Lower Oxford Township | #594 | B | C | — | B | B |
| East Nottingham Township | #617 | B | C+ | — | B | B− |
Lower Oxford Township and East Nottingham Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Oxford with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Oxford grades C overall, better than 30% of U.S. towns and #884 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades C− for health, B for safety and B for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes, by national standards. Pennsylvania has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Oxford sits nearer the middle.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
5 notable people were born here, including Evan Pugh and Jeff McComsey.
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