Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Public schools that outperform most of Pennsylvania. 21,655 people live in this town, settled in 1810.
Plenty to like here, at a price. Its strongest is schools — its public schools beat 93% of Pennsylvania towns on state tests and graduation. Overall, South Whitehall Township earns an A−, which places it 336th of 1032 in Pennsylvania. On that grade it does better than 80% of U.S. towns. Add health to its strengths: CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 81% of the country. The trade-off is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $365K, 4.3 years of the Allentown metro’s $85K median household income. The town has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Manasses Guth Covered Bridge and Dorneyville Crossroad Settlement. South Whitehall Township's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 86% of U.S. towns.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places.
Where South Whitehall Township beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Parkway Manor Sch | K–5 | 569 |
| Kratzer Sch | K–5 | 510 |
| Cetronia Sch | K–5 | 496 |
Where South Whitehall Township’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 South Whitehall Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 18,028 in 2000, 21,080 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 1841 and 7 maps from 1902 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around South Whitehall Township. Close and well known come first.
in town Theme parkDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom
4 mi Stadium & arenaPPL Center
19 mi Park & preserveLehigh River
35 mi National Historical ParkValley Forge National Historical Park1.8M visitors a year14 mi Ski areaBlue Mountain Resort44 runs · 1,077 ft vertical
32 mi National park siteMiddle Delaware National Scenic River4.1M visitors a yearDorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom: Coasterman1234 at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0 · PPL Center: Hunter Kahn, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Lehigh River: The original uploader was Malepheasant at English Wikipedia., CC BY-SA 2.0 · Valley Forge National Historical Park: The original uploader was JGHowes at English Wikipedia. (Original text: en:User, Attribution · Middle Delaware National Scenic River: Mike Serfas, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in South Whitehall 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.
Ordered by what stands out in South Whitehall Township.
South Whitehall Township draws workers from Allentown and beyond and has less tooth loss than most of Pennsylvania, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
17,064 jobs are based in South Whitehall Township, 1.8 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
The share of workers in South Whitehall Township who work remotely from home is 17%, above both the Pennsylvania town median (12%) and the median of U.S. towns (11%). The average commute in the town is 21 minutes. Employers in South Whitehall Township added 1,552 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 17,064. The top destinations are Allentown (14%), Upper Macungie Township (9%) and Bethlehem (6%).
| South Whitehall Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 17% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $103,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Working residents who work in town | 10% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
That grade comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $365K.
The public schools here belong to Parkland SD. Three of the 9 schools are below, and why each made the list. 3 public schools serve South Whitehall Township, with 1,575 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Springhouse MSLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 1,329 | A− |
| Parkland HSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 3,279 | B+ |
| Cetronia SchTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 496 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Pennsylvania is tooth loss: 9.4% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 14.5% statewide.
Two figures for adults in South Whitehall Township: 34% sleep under 7 hours, 31% have obesity. The share of adults in South Whitehall Township who report frequent mental distress is 15%, against 16% in Pennsylvania’s towns and 17% across U.S. towns. In South Whitehall Township, 13% of adults smoke cigarettes. Of 26 CDC measures, South Whitehall Township beats the Pennsylvania average on 6 and trails it on 1.
| South Whitehall Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 16% | 17% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 38% | 36% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 35% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 14% | 14% |
| What stands out | South Whitehall Township | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9.4% | 14.5% |
| Fewer smokers | 12.5% | 15.8% |
| More uninsured adults | 7.4% | 5.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
55 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 10 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in 70% of U.S. communities. Paid flood insurance claims in South Whitehall Township since 1978: 55. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 54% come from inland flooding and 21% from cold waves.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The July high for South Whitehall Township comes to 87°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
South Whitehall Township's reported crime rate is below Pennsylvania's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 29 violent crimes were reported in 2025. For South Whitehall Township, the property offense rate is 10.9 per 1,000 residents.
| South Whitehall Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 10.9 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The biggest park or preserve is Cedar Creek Parkway West, at 124 acres. There are 2.6 miles of trail across 22 parks and preserves. South Whitehall Township’s concentration of trails is 0.2 miles per square mile.
| South Whitehall Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.1% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Jordan Creek Parkway | 1.1 mi | 42 |
| 2. Cedar Creek Parkway East | 0.4 mi | 38 |
| 3. Cedar Creek Parkway West | — | 124 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
9 within 15 miles of the center of South Whitehall Township
About 4 of every 100 South Whitehall Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
3 places in South Whitehall Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
Township in Pennsylvania, US
South Whitehall Township is a township in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, United States. The township's population was 19,180 at the 2010 census. It is a suburb of Allentown and is part of the Lehigh Valley, which had a population of 861,899 and was the 68th-most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. as of the 2020 census. South Whitehall Township borders Allentown to its east and is 59.3 miles (95.4 km) northwest of Philadelphia, and 94.5 miles (152.1 km) west of New York City. The Lehigh Valley interchange of the Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike and Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom are both located in the township.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with South Whitehall Township.
Allentown next door grades lower for schools (D to South Whitehall Township’s A) and higher for cost of living (C to D).
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Whitehall Township | #336 | A− | D | — | A | A− |
| Allentown | #1021 | D | C | C | D | D |
| Dorneyville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Cetronia | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Whitehall Township | #900 | C | C− | C | B− | B |
| Wescosville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Lower Macungie Township | #353 | A− | D | — | A− | A− |
| North Whitehall Township | #133 | A | C+ | — | A | A− |
South Whitehall Township, Lower Macungie Township and North Whitehall Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Dorneyville, Cetronia and Wescosville aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare South Whitehall Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. South Whitehall Township grades A− overall, better than 80% of U.S. towns and #336 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades A− for health and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
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.
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