Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Paradise Township grades C overall, 855th of 1032 graded towns in Pennsylvania, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. The median household earns $107K. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: the typical home is worth about $349K, 4 years of the Lancaster metro’s $87K median household income. 33% of residents are under 18 in Paradise Township, against 20% in Pennsylvania’s towns and 22% across U.S. towns. On civic life, just 80 of Pennsylvania’s 1,717 towns do worse. Leaman Place Covered Bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Where Paradise Township beats most towns.
5,131 counted in 2010 and 5,672 in 2020; an estimated 5,799 in 2025.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Paradise Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1850 and 6 maps from 1912 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Paradise 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 Paradise Township.
Paradise Township has a long record of flood insurance claims, but it trails even towns with similar incomes on health.
Its public schools are run by Pequea Valley SD. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paradise El SchLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 382 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Paradise Township has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 22° and about 34 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Most working residents leave Paradise Township for work: only 9% work in town. Jobs based in Paradise Township grew to 1,650 in 2023, 196 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Leacock Township (10%), East Lampeter Township (6%) and Salisbury Township (5%).
| Paradise Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $107,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 8.6% | 12% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 7% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Against the 7,583 U.S. towns with household incomes like Paradise Township’s, it is less healthy than 89%, so it trails even them.
75% of Paradise Township adults had a checkup this year. Paradise Township beats the Pennsylvania average on 1 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 9. 11% of Paradise Township adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| Paradise Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 75% | 79% | 79% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 24% | 23% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 34% | 35% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 38% | 36% |
| What stands out | Paradise Township | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.8% | 8.8% |
| More uninsured adults | 10.6% | 5.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
1.3 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The trail density in Paradise Township is 0.1 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Paradise Community Park | 0.7 mi | 26 |
| 2. Cherry Crest Adventure Farm | 0.1 mi | 23 |
| 3. Denlinger Pond | — | 6 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
94 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 17 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 58% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 94 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Paradise Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Paradise Township. Close and well known come first.
36 mi Theme parkHersheypark3.0M visitors a year
7 mi Theme parkDutch Wonderland
24 mi GardenLongwood Gardens
3 mi MuseumRailroad Museum of Pennsylvania
30 mi MuseumWinterthur Museum, Garden and Library
40 mi Stadium & arenaSubaru ParkHersheypark: Michael Gray, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dutch Wonderland: FlugKerl2, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Longwood Gardens: P. Hughes, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania: Dough4872, Public domain · 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
8 within 15 miles of the center of Paradise Township
About 3 of every 100 Paradise Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
Unincorporated community in Pennsylvania, US
Paradise is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States, with a ZIP code of 17562. The population was 1,129 at the 2010 census. Paradise, like Intercourse, is a popular site in Pennsylvania Dutch Country for tourists who like the name of the town; they are together often named in lists of "delightfully named towns" in Pennsylvania Dutchland, along with Blue Ball, Lititz, Bareville, Fertility, Bird-in-Hand and Mount Joy. It was the setting of the 1994 comedy film Trapped in Paradise.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with Paradise Township.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paradise Township | #855 | C | C | — | C+ | C+ |
| Leacock Township | #793 | C+ | C | — | C+ | C |
| Soudersburg | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| East Lampeter Township | #681 | B− | C | C+ | B+ | B− |
| Salisbury Township | #856 | C | C− | — | C+ | C+ |
| Strasburg Township | #414 | B+ | C+ | — | A | B+ |
| Bart Township | #818 | C+ | C+ | — | C+ | C+ |
| Eden Township | — | — | C | — | C+ | C+ |
Eden Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Paradise Township, Leacock Township, Salisbury Township, Strasburg Township, Bart Township and Eden Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Soudersburg isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Paradise Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Paradise Township grades C overall, better than 32% of U.S. towns and #855 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades C+ for health and C+ 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 C.
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