Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Penn Township grades B+ overall, ranked 473rd of 1032 in Pennsylvania, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. The median household earns $88K and it has 21 miles of trail and 36% conserved land. It also does better than most on health: it is healthier than 72% of U.S. towns. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: homes are expensive, about $320K for a typical one and 3.7 times the Lancaster metro’s $87K median household income. 36% of the land in Penn Township is conserved, above both Pennsylvania’s towns (8.2%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). The biggest place to walk is State Game Lands Number 156, 2,450 acres with 16.6 miles of trail. Only 155 of Pennsylvania’s 1,749 towns score lower on history.
8,789 counted in 2010 and 10,210 in 2020; an estimated 10,693 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 7.3% since 2020, after 16.2% in the decade before.
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 Penn Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 7,312 in 2000, 10,224 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 2 maps from 1902 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Penn Township. Close and well known come first.
16 mi Theme parkHersheypark3.0M visitors a year
14 mi Theme parkDutch Wonderland
17 mi Stadium & arenaHersheypark Stadium
17 mi MuseumHershey's Chocolate World
10 mi MuseumEphrata Cloister
16 mi Stadium & arenaHersheypark ArenaHersheypark: Michael Gray, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dutch Wonderland: FlugKerl2, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hersheypark Stadium: 45BearsFan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hershey's Chocolate World: Phillyfan0419, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ephrata Cloister: 1549bcp at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Hersheypark Arena: Hersheyarena4ever at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Penn 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 Penn Township.
Penn Township keeps more of its land conserved than most of Pennsylvania and trades workers with Lancaster and other neighbors.
Its 6,791 conserved acres are a larger share of the town than in 94% of Pennsylvania towns.
Across 8 parks and preserves: 21 miles of trail. The trail density in Penn Township is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. State Game Lands Number 156 | 16.6 mi | 2,450 |
| 2. Speedwell Forge County Park | 0.6 mi | 75 |
| 3. Cornwall Tract | 0.5 mi | 9 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Two of its 3 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. Public schools: Manheim Central SD. The 2 public schools in Penn Township teach 1,518 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manheim Central MSLargest public middle schoolGrades 5–8 | Grades 5–8 | 846 | C+ |
| Sporting Hill Mennonite School PrivateLargest high schoolGrades 1–10 | Grades 1–10 | 14 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
The share of adults in Penn Township who report frequent mental distress is 16%, below both the Pennsylvania town median (16%) and the median of U.S. towns (17%). The town does better than the Pennsylvania average on 2 of 26 CDC measures and worse on 1. In Penn Township, just over a fifth of adults get no exercise outside work.
| Penn Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 16% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 24% | 25% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Penn Township | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 11.2% | 14.5% |
| More adults seeing a dentist | 68.3% | 64.4% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.1% | 8.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Summer afternoons peak near 85° in July, and January nights bottom out around 22°; snowfall runs to about 23 inches a winter. Winters in Penn Township are chilly and summers warm.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Penn Township has about as many jobs (4,203) as working residents, but only 473 people both live and work here.
Half the trips to work are shorter than 10 miles. For residents in Penn Township, the share who live below the poverty line is 4.7%. The top destinations are Lancaster (8%), Manheim Township (7%) and East Hempfield Township (6%). The town had 4,203 jobs in 2023, down 238 from 2013.
| Penn Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 4.7% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 14% | 12% | 11% |
| Working residents who work in town | 10% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Median household income | $88,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Among residents in Penn Township, 24% are 65 or older. Population is up 7.3% locally since 2020, to 10,693 by the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. The town’s midpoint age is 44.7 years.
| Penn Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 24% | 21% | 18% |
| Median age | 44.7 years | 43.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 20% | 20% | 22% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.9 points. Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Penn Township | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.6% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.9% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 8.5% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.2% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.9% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.8% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.8% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.8% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 13.6% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 8.7% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 39% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 15% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.7% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 16.4% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 12.2% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expected losses in Penn Township break down as 67% from inland flooding and 15% from hurricanes. On expected storm and flood damage, Penn Township sits below 53% of U.S. communities. Flood insurance has paid out on 2 claims here since 2011.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
9 within 15 miles of the center of Penn Township
About 2 of every 100 Penn Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
Township in Pennsylvania, US
Penn Township is a township that is located in north central Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 10,224 at the time of the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with Penn Township.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penn Township | #473 | B+ | C | — | B | B+ |
| Rapho Township | #590 | B | C | — | B | B+ |
| Manheim | #719 | B− | B− | C+ | B | B |
| Warwick Township | #338 | A− | C | — | A− | A− |
| Elizabeth Township | #38 | A+ | B | — | A− | A− |
| East Hempfield Township | #256 | A | C | B+ | A− | A− |
| Penryn | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Manheim Township | #227 | A | C− | B+ | A | A− |
Penn Township, Rapho Township, Warwick Township and Elizabeth Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Penryn isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Penn Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Penn Township grades B+ overall, better than 68% of U.S. towns and #473 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades B+ for health 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 C.
