Is Plainfield Township a good place to live?
Plainfield Township grades B− overall, ranked 730th of 1032 in Pennsylvania, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. Natural-hazard risk is low and it has 6 miles of trail and 30% conserved land. On the other side, the typical home is worth about $316K, 3.7 years of the Allentown metro’s $85K median household income. 30% of the land in Plainfield Township is conserved, against 8.2% in Pennsylvania’s towns and 4.3% across U.S. towns. The biggest park or preserve is Cherry Valley National Wildlife Refuge, at 568 acres. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 71% of U.S. towns.
What makes Plainfield Township stand out
Where Plainfield Township beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Plainfield El Sch | K–3 | 434 |
| Wind Gap MS | 4–8 | 510 |
95% of working residents leave Plainfield Township for work
Where Plainfield Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Plainfield Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Plainfield Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom and 61 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Plainfield Township. Close and well known come first.
22 mi Theme parkDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
30 mi LakeLake Musconetcong
9 mi Park & preserveLehigh River
19 mi Stadium & arenaPPL Center
12 mi National park siteMiddle Delaware National Scenic River4.1M visitors a year
38 mi Park & preserveDuke FarmsPhoto credits
Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom: Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lake Musconetcong: Zeete, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Lehigh River: The original uploader was Malepheasant at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0 · PPL Center: Hunter Kahn, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Middle Delaware National Scenic River: Mike Serfas, Public domain · Duke Farms: Ekem, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Moving to Plainfield Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Plainfield 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 Plainfield Township.
Inland flooding leads a very low hazard risk in Plainfield Township
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 85% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
On state tests, Plainfield Township’s schools beat 74% of Pennsylvania districts
Its public schools are run by Pen Argyl Area SD. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wind Gap MSLargest public middle schoolGrades 4–8 | Grades 4–8 | 510 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Conserved land covers nearly a quarter of Plainfield Township
5.9 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Plainfield Township Community Park | 1.1 mi | 30 |
| 2. State Game Lands Number 168 | 1 mi | 293 |
| 3. Cherry Valley National Wildlife Refuge | 0.7 mi | 568 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Most of Plainfield Township’s workers commute out: the town has 0.5 jobs for each of them
Most working residents leave Plainfield Township for work: only 5% work in town. Since 2013, Plainfield Township has lost 71 jobs, to 1,329 in 2023. The top destinations are Bethlehem (4%), Palmer Township (4%) and Allentown (4%).
| Plainfield Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $87,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.9% | 6.3% | 8% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Plainfield Township is healthier than 69% of U.S. towns
Plainfield Township tracks Pennsylvania closely on all 26 CDC measures. 20% of Plainfield Township adults binge drink, above both Pennsylvania’s towns (18%) and U.S. towns (16%). 35% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Plainfield Township.
| Plainfield Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 18% | 16% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 38% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 35% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 35% | 35% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Plainfield Township has four seasons and pleasant summers
Plainfield Township has chilly winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 19° and about 23 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Homes in Plainfield Township sell for about $219K
64.6% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 48.2% across Pennsylvania.
The median rent in Plainfield Township is $1,711 a month.
| Plainfield Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,711 a month | $1,114 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 78% | 78% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Plainfield Township
Colleges nearby
5 within 15 miles of the center of Plainfield Township
About 1 of every 100 Plainfield Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
About Plainfield Township
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Plainfield Township is a township in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population of Plainfield Township was 6,138 at the 2010 census. The township is part of the Lehigh Valley metropolitan area, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 25 sq mi
- Elevation
- 568 ft
Plainfield Township’s neighbors
8 towns share a border with Plainfield Township.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plainfield Township | #730 | B− | C− | — | B+ | B+ |
| Stockertown | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wind Gap | #478 | B+ | C+ | — | B+ | B |
| Washington Township | #614 | B | C | A− | B+ | B− |
| Forks Township | #569 | B | C− | A | C | A− |
| Bushkill Township | #347 | A− | C− | A− | A | B+ |
| Lower Mount Bethel Township | #522 | B | B+ | — | B+ | B− |
| Hamilton Township | #973 | C− | C− | — | B− | B− |
Plainfield Township, Wind Gap, Lower Mount Bethel Township and Hamilton Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Stockertown isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Plainfield Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Plainfield Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Plainfield Township, PA a good place to live?
Plainfield Township grades B− overall, better than 47% of U.S. towns and #730 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades B+ for health and B+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Is Plainfield Township, PA expensive?
Yes. The typical home is worth about $316,000, 10% above the Pennsylvania typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.