Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Red Lion gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $295K, 3.5 years of the York metro’s $85K median household income. It grades B− overall, 660th of 1032 graded towns in Pennsylvania. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 90% of U.S. towns, with 2 places on the National Register. Red Lion is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 94% of U.S. towns. On civic life, just 167 of Pennsylvania’s 1,717 towns do worse.
Where Red Lion beats most towns.
Consumers Cigar Box CompanyWhere Red Lion’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Red Lion is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 241 in 1880, 6,512 in 2020. The archive holds 6 maps from 1908 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Red Lion, 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 Red Lion.
Red Lion has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years, but it has many renters stretched by housing costs.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 91% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Red Lion since 2011.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by Red Lion Area SD. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Red Lion Area SHS, with 1,363 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Lion Area JHSLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 747 | C |
| Red Lion Area SHSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,363 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Jobs based here fell from 2,485 in 2013 to 1,783.
Most working residents leave Red Lion for work: only 6% work in town. 16% of Red Lion residents live below the poverty line, above both Pennsylvania’s towns (7.6%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Since 2013, Red Lion has lost 702 jobs, to 1,783 in 2023.
| Red Lion | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $73,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
28% of Red Lion adults have been diagnosed with depression, where Pennsylvania’s towns sit at 24% and U.S. towns at 23%. 38% of Red Lion adults have obesity. Red Lion beats the Pennsylvania average on 1 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 12.
| Red Lion | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 16% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 16% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 24% | 23% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 38% | 36% |
| What stands out | Red Lion | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.7% | 8.8% |
| More uninsured adults | 9% | 5.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Red Lion has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 21° and about 25 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
64.3% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 48.2% across Pennsylvania.
64% of households own their home in Red Lion. The typical Red Lion home is worth about $295,000, up 2.4% in a year, close to the Pennsylvania typical home. Red Lion’s median rent is $884 a month.
| Red Lion | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 64% | 78% | 73% |
| Median rent | $884 a month | $1,116 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
| Red Lion | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fairmount Park | 0.3 mi | 10 |
| 2. Nitchkey Field | — | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Red Lion. Close and well known come first.
27 mi Theme parkHersheypark3.0M visitors a year
37 mi National MonumentCarlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument
23 mi Theme parkDutch Wonderland
33 mi Ancient siteGettysburg Battlefield
27 mi Stadium & arenaHersheypark Stadium
27 mi MuseumHershey's Chocolate WorldHersheypark: Michael Gray, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · Dutch Wonderland: FlugKerl2, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Gettysburg Battlefield: Veggies, Public domain · Hersheypark Stadium: 45BearsFan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hershey's Chocolate World: Phillyfan0419, CC BY-SA 3.0
3 within 15 miles of the center of Red Lion
About 5 of every 100 Red Lion residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Pennsylvania.
2 places in Red Lion on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Red Lion.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Red Lion (Pennsylvania Dutch: Rot Leeb) is a borough in York County, Pennsylvania, United States, settled in 1852 and incorporated on January 16, 1880. The population was 6,506 at the 2020 census. It is part of the York–Hanover metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Red Lion.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Lion | #660 | B− | B | — | C | C |
| York Township | #542 | B | C− | — | A− | B− |
| Windsor Township | #815 | C+ | C | — | C | B+ |
Red Lion, York Township and Windsor Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Red Lion with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Red Lion grades B− overall, better than 54% of U.S. towns and #660 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 B.
5 notable people were born here, including Lzzy Hale and Harry L. Haines.
