Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Shillington is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B overall, ranked 549th of 1032 in Pennsylvania, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is safety: it reports less crime per resident than 74% of U.S. towns. It also does better than most on health: CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 69% of the country. A typical home there costs about $264K, 3.3 years of the Reading metro’s $80K median household income. Shillington’s trail density is 4.3 miles per square mile, against 0.4 in Pennsylvania’s towns and 0.4 across U.S. towns. On the outdoors, just 76 of Pennsylvania’s 1,751 towns do better. The biggest place to walk is Shillington Park, 60 acres with 3.1 miles of trail.
Where Shillington beats most towns.
11.4% of the town is conserved land, across 3 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Shillington is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 136 in 1880, 5,475 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 8 maps from 1894 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Shillington. Close and well known come first.
36 mi Theme parkHersheypark3.0M visitors a year
30 mi Theme parkDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
34 mi GardenLongwood Gardens3 mi Stadium & arenaSovereign Center
23 mi Theme parkDutch Wonderland
14 mi MuseumEphrata CloisterHersheypark: Michael Gray, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom: Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Longwood Gardens: P. Hughes, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Dutch Wonderland: FlugKerl2, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ephrata Cloister: 1549bcp at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Shillington, 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 Shillington.
Shillington has home values climbing faster than Pennsylvania’s, but it has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Shillington Park | 3.1 mi | 60 |
| 2. The Wyomissing Parklands | 0.6 mi | 9 |
| 3. Slate Hill Open Space | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by Governor Mifflin SD. Two of its 3 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Governor Mifflin SHS, with 1,425 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Governor Mifflin MSLargest public middle schoolGrades 7–8 | Grades 7–8 | 631 | C |
| Governor Mifflin SHSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,425 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Jobs based here fell from 8,511 in 2013 to 1,231.
Most working residents leave Shillington for work: only 4% work in town. 17% of residents live below the poverty line in Shillington, where Pennsylvania’s towns sit at 7.6% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Jobs based in Shillington fell to 1,231 in 2023, 7,280 fewer than in 2013.
| Shillington | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 17% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.8% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Pennsylvania has less reported crime than most states, so among its own towns Shillington sits closer to the middle.
| Shillington | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.3 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
40% of adults sleep under 7 hours in Shillington. Shillington beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 19% of adults binge drink in Shillington.
| Shillington | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 38% | 36% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 34% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | Shillington | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 8.5% | 5.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 68% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Shillington.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Shillington has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 22° and about 27 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Home values rose 42% in five years, to about $264K, against 23% across Pennsylvania.
63% of Shillington households own their home. The typical Shillington home is worth about $264,000, up 2.9% in a year, 8% below the Pennsylvania typical home. Shillington’s median rent is $1,387 a month.
| Shillington | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 63% | 78% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,387 a month | $1,114 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
4 within 15 miles of the center of Shillington
About 4 of every 100 Shillington residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
Where Shillington’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Shillington is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 5,475 at the time of the 2020 census the borough is nestled amongst other suburbs outside Reading. It is perhaps best known for being the location of the homestead to Pennsylvania's first governor, Thomas Mifflin, and as the childhood home of American author John Updike. Many of Updike's stories take place in the fictional town of Olinger, a lightly-disguised version of Shillington, and in its environs.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Shillington.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shillington | #549 | B | C+ | B+ | B− | B+ |
| Cumru Township | #584 | B | C | — | B− | B+ |
| Pennwyn | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Wyomissing | #613 | B | D | C+ | B | A |
Cumru Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Pennwyn isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Shillington with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Shillington grades B overall, better than 62% of U.S. towns and #549 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades B+ for health, B+ for safety and B− for schools.
Yes, by national standards. Pennsylvania has less crime than most states, so among its own towns Shillington sits nearer the middle.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
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