Penn Forest TownshipPA
A town of 10,434.
What should you know before moving to Penn Forest Township?
Penn Forest Township's standout: natural-hazard risk is low. Overall it grades C−, 969th among Pennsylvania's 1032 graded towns. It has 75 miles of trail and 42% conserved land. Penn Forest Township’s average trip to work is 42 minutes, above both Pennsylvania’s towns (26 minutes) and U.S. towns (25 minutes). The biggest place to walk is Bethlehem Authority Wild Creek, 8,410 acres with 21.5 miles of trail. Only 13 of Pennsylvania’s 1,749 towns score lower on history.
What makes Penn Forest Township stand out
Where Penn Forest Township beats most towns.
75 miles of trails in Penn Forest Township
41.7% of the town is conserved land, across 12 parks and preserves.
How Penn Forest Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Penn Forest Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Penn Forest Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Penn Forest 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.
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Penn Forest Township.
Penn Forest Township is a second-home town, keeps more of its land conserved than most of Pennsylvania and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
Penn Forest Township has set aside nearly a third of its land for conservation
Its 19,840 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 97% of Pennsylvania towns.
75 miles of trail in 12 parks and preserves. The trail density in Penn Forest Township is 1.0 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bethlehem Authority Wild Creek | 21.5 mi | 8,410 |
| 2. State Game Lands Number 141 | 19.7 mi | 6,556 |
| 3. Weiser State Forest Penn Forest Tract | 7.2 mi | 1,039 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Very low risk in Penn Forest Township, with inland flooding at the top
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 93% of U.S. communities. Since 2004, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Penn Forest Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents commute out of Penn Forest Township
Penn Forest Township has 627 jobs for its 3,610 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here fell from 830 in 2013 to 627.
Most working residents leave Penn Forest Township for work: only 6% work in town. Jobs based in Penn Forest Township fell to 627 in 2023, 203 fewer than in 2013. Penn Forest Township’s median household income is $67,000.
| Penn Forest Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $67,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 11% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Penn Forest Township has four seasons and pleasant summers
Penn Forest Township has chilly winters and pleasant summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 80° and January nights drop to 16°.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Penn Forest Township is less healthy than 51% of U.S. towns
Against the 10,218 U.S. towns with household incomes like Penn Forest Township’s, it is healthier than 66%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Penn Forest Township beats the Pennsylvania average on 1 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 17% of adults smoke cigarettes in Penn Forest Township.
| Penn Forest Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 16% | 14% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 37% | 34% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 11% | 12% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 18% | 16% |
| What stands out | Penn Forest Township | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More adults getting cholesterol checked | 87.6% | 85.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.2% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom and 40 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Penn Forest Township. Close and well known come first.
27 mi Theme parkDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
6 mi State parkHickory Run State Park
37 mi LakeLake Wallenpaupack
31 mi National Historic SiteSteamtown National Historic Site61K visitors a year
26 mi Stadium & arenaPPL Center
16 mi Ski areaCamelback Mountain Resort37 runs · 804 ft verticalPhoto credits
Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom: Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hickory Run State Park: Mtruch, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Wallenpaupack: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Steamtown National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · PPL Center: Hunter Kahn, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Camelback Mountain Resort: Calzarette at en.wikipedia, Public domain
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Everything we know about Penn Forest Township
Colleges nearby
None within 15 miles of Penn Forest Township; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Penn Forest Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
94% of working residents leave Penn Forest Township for work
Where Penn Forest Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Penn Forest Township’s neighbors
9 towns share a border with Penn Forest Township.
All 4 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C−; Polk Township (C−) is closest.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn Forest Township | #969 | C− | C | — | C+ | B− |
| Kidder Township | — | — | B+ | — | C+ | B− |
| Lehigh Township | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Jim Thorpe | #456 | B+ | B+ | B− | C+ | B |
| Polk Township | #948 | C− | C− | — | B− | B− |
| Towamensing Trails | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Franklin Township | #649 | B− | A− | B | B− | B− |
| Tunkhannock Township | #890 | C | B− | — | B− | C− |
Kidder Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Penn Forest Township, Kidder Township, Polk Township and Tunkhannock Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Lehigh Township and Towamensing Trails aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Penn Forest Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Penn Forest Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Penn Forest Township, PA a good place to live?
Penn Forest Township grades C− overall, better than 18% of U.S. towns and #969 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades B− for health and C+ for schools.
Is Penn Forest Township, PA expensive?
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.