Even on the area’s higher pay, Stroud Township costs more to live in than 80% of U.S. towns
It ranks #857 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania for affordability. Home prices around Stroud Township have risen about 64% over the past 5 years. Builders were permitted 9 new homes in 2025.
Census 2020–24 home values, rents, tax bills and cost burden, measured against the median household income of the East Stroudsburg, PA micro area ($84K). How TownRatings grades cost of living
The grade measures what housing costs against what households in the area earn. Stroud Township’s area earns well above the typical U.S. town ($84K against $74K), but homes, rent and taxes here run higher still. Owners keep up better than renters: 27% of owners pay 30% or more of income for housing (typical U.S. town: 20%), against 55% of renters.
In dollars
- $1,510a month for a two-bedroom, utilities includedHUD Fair Market Rent, 2026
In paychecks the grade
- 3.5 yrsof area income buys the typical home; the typical U.S. town: 3.3$84K, East Stroudsburg-area income
- 19%of area income goes to the median rent; the typical U.S. town: 18%Census 2020–24
- 55%of renters pay 30%+ of income for housing; across Pennsylvania: 48%Census 2020–24
- 27%of owners do; the typical U.S. town: 20%Census 2020–24
The short version on homes in Stroud Township
A high property tax rate
Owners pay about 1.78% of a home’s value a year in property tax, against 1.30% across Pennsylvania. The median bill is $5,189 (Pennsylvania: $3,311). On the typical home, that’s about $520 a month. Property taxes ↓
Prices rose faster than Pennsylvania’s over five years
There’s no Zillow index for Stroud Township, so the page uses the federal house price index for the ZIP codes around it, which follows repeat sales of the same homes. It rose 64% over five years, against 48% across Pennsylvania. Price trend ↓
New building is almost all single-family houses
Of the 276 homes permitted in Stroud Township’s past 10 years, 99% were single-family houses. New homes ↓
Written from the data on this page. There’s no Zillow index for Stroud Township, so the typical value is an estimate: the Census median carried forward with the federal house price index; permits are Census figures through 2025 (2025 partly estimated); incomes, rents paid, taxes and ownership come from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Stroud Township’s grade
Measured against what households in the area earn, Stroud Township is more affordable than 20% of U.S. towns, #857 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. Property tax pulls the grade down most; home prices hold it up.
Home prices up 64% in 5 years
The federal house price index for the ZIP codes around Stroud Township rose 64% over the past 5 years, faster than across Pennsylvania (48%). Last year prices rose 7.2%. Carrying the Census median home value forward with that index puts the typical Stroud Township home at roughly $353,000 today.
Carrying the Census median forward with the index puts a typical home at about $353K.
Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (annual) for the ZIP codes around Stroud Township, weighted by land area. It tracks repeat sales of the same homes, so it shows how prices changed, not what homes cost.
A year’s rent takes 19% of area income
The calculator starts from the area income the grade uses. Switch to Stroud Township’s own median, or type yours.
That’s $62K short of a typical Stroud Township home.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,510 a month here, $870 less than owning.
An estimate, not a loan offer: payments of up to 28% of income, a 30-year fixed loan, Stroud Township’s typical property tax (1.78% of value a year, from the Census) and insurance of about 0.35%. Mortgage insurance, HOA fees and other debts aren’t included.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,510
Renters already here pay a median of $1,355, so moving in tends to cost more than staying put.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (Monroe County, PA): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
9 new homes permitted in 2025
Builders were permitted 9 new homes in Stroud Township in 2025, all single-family houses, worth about $3.4 million to build. That's 0.5 per 1,000 residents, slower than across Pennsylvania (2). Over the past 10 years, Stroud Township has permitted 276 homes in all.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Stroud Township gained 621 residents while 282 new homes were permitted: about 2.2 new residents per new home, more than across Pennsylvania (1.4): growth outpaced building.
Every year as a table
| Year | New homes | Single-family | 2+ per building | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Aug) | 10 | 10 | 0 | $5 million |
| 2025 | 9 | 9 | 0 | $3.4 million |
| 2024 | 10 | 10 | 0 | $3.4 million |
| 2023 | 14 | 14 | 0 | $5.5 million |
| 2022 | 10 | 10 | 0 | $3.7 million |
| 2021 | 25 | 21 | 4 | $6.5 million |
| 2020 | 27 | 27 | 0 | $7.4 million |
| 2019 | 23 | 23 | 0 | $7.2 million |
| 2018 | 24 | 24 | 0 | $6.4 million |
| 2017 | 71 | 71 | 0 | $12 million |
| 2016 | 63 | 63 | 0 | $9.5 million |
| 2015 | 27 | 27 | 0 | $5.9 million |
| 2014 | 25 | 25 | 0 | $6.8 million |
| 2013 | 8 | 8 | 0 | $1.5 million |
| 2012 | 7 | 7 | 0 | $1.4 million |
| 2011 | 12 | 12 | 0 | $2.4 million |
| 2010 | 22 | 22 | 0 | $6.8 million |
| 2009 | 22 | 22 | 0 | $3.9 million |
| 2008 | 91 | 57 | 34 | $16.4 million |
| 2007 | 80 | 80 | 0 | $26.1 million |
| 2006 | 115 | 113 | 2 | $33.7 million |
| 2005 | 119 | 119 | 0 | $26.6 million |
| 2004 | 181 | 181 | 0 | $37.1 million |
| 2003 | 234 | 224 | 10 | $46.6 million |
| 2002 | 218 | 218 | 0 | $40.1 million |
| 2001 | 269 | 263 | 6 | $46.5 million |
| 2000 | 209 | 192 | 17 | $33 million |
Stroud Township's permit office reported 11 of 12 months in 2025; the Census estimated the rest.
Homes authorized by building permits, counted in the year the permit was issued. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
Property tax runs above the Pennsylvania norm
The median bill is $5,189 (Pennsylvania: $3,311), 1.78% of a home’s value a year, against 1.30% statewide.
Census American Community Survey 2020–24: the median real-estate tax bill homeowners report, and that bill ÷ the median home value. Bills include town, school and county taxes. The Census reports bills over $10,000 only as “$10,000+”.
Stroud Township vs. its neighbors
Zillow publishes no value for Stroud Township. Upper Mount Bethel Township and Hamilton Township and Smithfield Township and Pocono Township and Arlington Heights have no Zillow value, so they are in the table only.
Cost next door · one source per column
| Town | Cost | Typical home Zillow, latest | Median value Census 2020–24 | Tax rate bill ÷ value | 2-bed rent HUD 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stroud Township | C− | — | $292K | 1.78% | $1,510 |
| Arlington Heights | – | — | $277K | 1.76% | $1,490 |
| East Stroudsburg | C− | $313K | $228K | 1.96% | $1,550 |
| Stroudsburg | D | $353K | $230K | 2.06% | $1,470 |
| Upper Mount Bethel Township | B− | — | $322K | 1.18% | $1,410 |
| Smithfield Township | C− | — | $304K | 2.16% | $1,540 |
| Hamilton Township | C− | — | $305K | 1.95% | $1,480 |
| Pocono Township | C | — | $288K | 1.48% | $1,700 |
“—” under Zillow: Zillow publishes no value for that town, so it’s left blank rather than mixed with Census figures. “—” under Cost: not graded (too little Census data, or under 1,000 residents).
Questions about the cost of living in Stroud Township
Is Stroud Township expensive to live in?
Measured against what households in the area earn, Stroud Township costs more than 80% of U.S. towns: a C− for cost of living, #857 of 1,035 in Pennsylvania. The typical home costs 3.5 years of the median household income of the East Stroudsburg, PA micro area ($84K).
How much is rent in Stroud Township?
HUD puts a two-bedroom at about $1,510 a month with utilities, the going rate for someone moving in. Renters already here pay a median of $1,355 (Census 2020–24).
What are property taxes in Stroud Township?
The median bill is $5,189 a year, 1.78% of the median home value (Pennsylvania: $3,311, 1.30%), from the Census 2020–24.
Neighbors talk housing
What Stroud Township buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. New homes: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey. Price trend: Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index. Fair Market Rents: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The calculator is an estimate, not a loan offer. Regional price levels: BEA; electricity: EIA. How TownRatings grades cost of living.