Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Watsontown’s best subject grades are an A for walkability and history and an A− for schools; its weakest is a C− for hazard risk. Watsontown’s average trip to work is 17 minutes, below both the Pennsylvania town median (26 minutes) and the median of U.S. towns (25 minutes). On civic life, just 138 of Pennsylvania’s 1,717 towns do better. Watsontown River Bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places. Watsontown has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade.
Where Watsontown beats most towns.
Where Watsontown’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 Watsontown is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1917.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Watsontown, 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 Watsontown.
Most working residents leave Watsontown for work: only 5% work in town. At $60,000, Watsontown’s median household income is against $81,000 in Pennsylvania’s towns and $80,000 across U.S. towns. 12% of residents live below the poverty line in Watsontown.
| Watsontown | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $60,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 12% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 5% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Watsontown’s violent crime rate is 0 per 1,000 residents.
| Watsontown | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.4 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 72% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 18 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Watsontown.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Watsontown has chilly, snowy winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 20° and about 36 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The typical Watsontown home is worth about $242,000, up 0.7% in a year, 16% below the Pennsylvania typical home. 54% of Watsontown households own their home.
| Watsontown | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 54% | 78% | 73% |
| Median rent | $877 a month | $1,115 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Watsontown beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 6.
| Watsontown | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 17% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 14% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 25% | 24% | 23% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Watsontown | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 21.1% | 14.5% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.7% | 7.7% |
| More adults with heart disease | 8.6% | 7.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
0.7 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The trail density in Watsontown is 0.8 miles per square mile. The biggest park or preserve is Watsontown Memorial Park, at 23 acres.
| Watsontown | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.1% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Watsontown Memorial Park | 0.3 mi | 23 |
| 2. William (Jack) Marshall Recreation Area | 0.3 mi | 6 |
| 3. Robert E. Brown Memorial Park | 0.1 mi | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
3 within 15 miles of the center of Watsontown
About 4 of every 100 Watsontown residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Watsontown is a borough in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,237 at the 2020 census. It was named for John Watson, an early settler.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Watsontown.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Watsontown | — | — | B+ | B+ | A− | C+ |
| Delaware Township | #508 | B+ | B | — | A− | B− |
| White Deer Township | #435 | B+ | A | — | B+ | C− |
Watsontown has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Delaware Township and White Deer Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Watsontown with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Not for the area. That is 3.9 years of the area's median household income ($62,262 across the Sunbury, PA area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
2 notable people were born here, including Bob Farley and Fred E. Young.
