Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Sinking Spring grades B+ overall, ranked 495th of 1032 in Pennsylvania. Natural-hazard risk is low. The median household earns $82K and crime is low: it reports less per resident than 85% of U.S. towns. The trade-off is money: the typical home is worth about $283K, 3.5 years of the Reading metro’s $80K median household income. 56% of households own their home in Sinking Spring, below both Pennsylvania’s towns (78%) and U.S. towns (73%).
Where Sinking Spring beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Sinking Spring is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 517 in 1880, 4,286 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 1788 and 6 maps from 1943 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Sinking Spring, 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 Sinking Spring.
Sinking Spring trades workers with Reading and other neighbors and is safe by national standards but not by Pennsylvania’s; it also scores below South Heidelberg Township and its other neighbors on health.
At 6.9 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 69% of Pennsylvania’s graded towns. Reported crimes rose from 17 to 27 over the last three FBI years, a rise beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 88% of U.S. communities. Since 2019, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Sinking Spring.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Sinking Spring 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
Sinking Spring has about as many jobs (1,935) as working residents, but only 98 people both live and work here.
Most working residents leave Sinking Spring for work: only 5% work in town. Since 2013, Sinking Spring has lost 256 jobs, to 1,935 in 2023. The average trip to work in Sinking Spring is 23 minutes.
| Sinking Spring | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 23 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 4.7% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Pennsylvania average. Sinking Spring has grown 7.1% since 2020, to 4,584 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. Sinking Spring’s median age is 38.3 years.
| Sinking Spring | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 38.3 years | 43.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 23% | 20% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 34% | 29% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 17% | 21% | 18% |
55% women, 45% men
About 83 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±4.3 points). Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Sinking Spring | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 9.6% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13.2% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.5% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 10.2% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 16.3% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 9.7% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.6% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 7.8% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 12.4% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24.2% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 25% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 4.3% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.2% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 11.9% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,600, single groups can be off by several points
All 3 graded neighbors score healthier than its B−, from South Heidelberg Township (B+) to Spring Township (A−).
Sinking Spring beats the Pennsylvania average on 2 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 43% of Sinking Spring adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Sinking Spring | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 43% | 38% | 36% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 14% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 16% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 17% |
| What stands out | Sinking Spring | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.4% | 14.5% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 7.7% | 8.8% |
| More uninsured adults | 8.9% | 5.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
0.3 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve.
| Sinking Spring | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.9% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Heritage Park | 0.1 mi | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The median property tax bill is $4,994, against $3,311 across Pennsylvania, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Sinking Spring. Close and well known come first.
34 mi Theme parkHersheypark3.0M visitors a year
31 mi Theme parkDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
36 mi GardenLongwood Gardens5 mi Stadium & arenaSovereign Center
23 mi Theme parkDutch Wonderland
13 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
4 within 15 miles of the center of Sinking Spring
About 7 of every 100 Sinking Spring residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Pennsylvania.
3 notable people were born in Sinking Spring.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Sinking Spring is a borough that is located in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 4,286 at the time of the 2020 census. The borough's name was derived from a spring that was located in the center of town. The water in this spring would sink into the ground from time to time, giving the illusion that it had disappeared. The Sinking Spring area is served by the Wilson School District.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Sinking Spring.
All 3 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its B+; South Heidelberg Township (A−) is closest.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinking Spring | #495 | B+ | C− | A | B | B− |
| Spring Township | #310 | A− | C− | B+ | B | A− |
| Whitfield | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Lower Heidelberg Township | #274 | A− | D | A+ | B | A− |
| Springmont | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| South Heidelberg Township | #312 | A− | C+ | A | C+ | B+ |
| West Wyomissing | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Whitfield, Springmont and West Wyomissing aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Sinking Spring with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Sinking Spring grades B+ overall, better than 66% of U.S. towns and #495 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades B− for health, A for safety and B for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $283,000, 1% below 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−.
3 notable people were born here, including Paul Specht and John H. Addams.
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