Rice TownshipPA
A town of 3,834.
Is Rice Township a good place to live?
For most people who can afford it, yes. Rice Township grades A− overall, ranked 282nd of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It reports less crime per resident than 91% of U.S. towns. The median household earns $111K and its public schools beat 82% of Pennsylvania towns on state tests and graduation. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $314K, 4.8 years of the Scranton metro’s $65K median household income. 20% of the land in Rice Township is conserved, where Pennsylvania’s towns sit at 8.2% and U.S. towns at 4.3%. On history, just 23 of Pennsylvania’s 1,749 towns do worse. The biggest place to walk is State Game Lands Number 207, 1,200 acres with 4.9 miles of trail.
What makes Rice Township stand out
Where Rice Township beats most towns.
97% of working residents leave Rice Township for work
Where Rice Township’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Rice Township grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Rice Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Moving to Rice Township: who provides what
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rice 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 Rice Township.
Rice Township has less tooth loss than most of Pennsylvania, sends most of its workers to Wilkes-Barre and beyond and pairs an A− for schools with high home prices.
For safety, Rice Township earns an A
Violent crime is rare: 1 reported in 2025, 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
At 2.1 per 1,000 residents, Rice Township’s property crime rate is against 5.7 in Pennsylvania’s towns and 9.9 across U.S. towns. The violent crime rate in Rice Township is 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Rice Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 2.1 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
Violent crime per 1,000 residents
Property crime per 1,000 residents
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
For schools, Rice Township earns an A−
Its A− for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $314K.
Its public schools are run by Crestwood SD. One of its 2 schools is below, with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rice El SchLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 735 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
For the outdoors, Rice Township earns a B+
8.2 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. Rice Township’s trail density is 0.7 miles per square mile.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. State Game Lands Number 207 | 4.9 mi | 1,200 |
| 2. American Legion VFW | — | 38 |
| 3. Rice Township Recreation Area | 0.1 mi | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Residents of Rice Township are healthier than 81% of U.S. towns
Its widest gap with Pennsylvania is tooth loss: 6.9% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 14.5% statewide.
Rice Township beats the Pennsylvania average on 9 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 14% of Rice Township adults report frequent mental distress.
| Rice Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 19% | 19% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 14% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Rice Township | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.9% | 14.5% |
| Fewer adults in fair or poor health | 14.7% | 18.7% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10% | 8.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Most working residents commute out of Rice Township
Rice Township has 241 jobs for its 1,677 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
Most working residents leave Rice Township for work: only 3% work in town. Since 2013, Rice Township has lost 60 jobs, to 241 in 2023. 6.1% of residents live below the poverty line in Rice Township.
| Rice Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $111,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 2.5% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.1% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Four seasons and pleasant summers in Rice Township
Rice Township has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 17° and about 36 inches of snow falls in a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Inland flooding leads a moderate hazard risk in Rice Township
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 56% of U.S. communities. Since 1996, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Rice Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Knoebels Amusement Resort and 22 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rice Township. Close and well known come first.
21 mi National Historic SiteSteamtown National Historic Site61K visitors a year
40 mi LakeLake Wallenpaupack
22 mi State parkRicketts Glen State Park
15 mi State parkHickory Run State Park
31 mi Ski areaCamelback Mountain Resort37 runs · 804 ft verticalPhoto credits
Steamtown National Historic Site: National Park Service, Public domain · Lake Wallenpaupack: Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ricketts Glen State Park: en:User:Msitler, Public domain · Hickory Run State Park: Mtruch, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Camelback Mountain Resort: Calzarette at en.wikipedia, Public domain
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Everything we know about Rice Township
Colleges nearby
6 within 15 miles of the center of Rice Township
About 2 of every 100 Rice Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
About Rice Township
Township in Pennsylvania, US
Rice Township is a township in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 3,626 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 11 sq mi
Rice Township’s neighbors
5 towns share a border with Rice Township.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rice Township | #282 | A− | D | A | A− | A− |
| Wright Township | #289 | A− | C− | A | A− | A− |
| Mountain Top | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Nuangola | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Fairview Township | #95 | A+ | C+ | A+ | A− | A− |
| Dorrance Township | — | — | C− | — | A− | B+ |
Dorrance Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Dorrance Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Mountain Top and Nuangola aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Rice Township with a neighbor →
Questions about Rice Township
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Rice Township, PA a good place to live?
For most people who can afford it, yes. Rice Township grades A− overall, better than 84% of U.S. towns and #282 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades A− for health, A for safety and A− for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Is Rice Township, PA expensive?
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.