Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 17,162. Public schools that outperform most of Pennsylvania.
Trash day: look up yoursWest Hempfield Township is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades A overall, 216th among Pennsylvania's 1032 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is incomes: the median household earns $98K. It also does better than most on schools: its schools rank ahead of 84% of Pennsylvania towns. A typical home there costs about $302K, 3.5 years of the Lancaster metro’s $87K median household income. 24% of the land in West Hempfield Township is conserved, above both Pennsylvania’s towns (8.2%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). On civic life, just 117 of Pennsylvania’s 1,717 towns do worse. West Hempfield Township has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Forry's Mill Covered Bridge and Old Columbia-Wrightsville Bridge.
Where West Hempfield Township beats most towns.
Where West Hempfield 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 West Hempfield Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 15,128 in 2000, 17,047 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers and 6 maps from 1902 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around West Hempfield Township. Close and well known come first.
19 mi Theme parkHersheypark3.0M visitors a year
39 mi National MonumentCarlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument
14 mi Theme parkDutch Wonderland
19 mi Stadium & arenaHersheypark Stadium
19 mi MuseumHershey's Chocolate World
19 mi Stadium & arenaHersheypark ArenaHersheypark: Michael Gray, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Carlisle Federal Indian Boarding School National Monument: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · Dutch Wonderland: FlugKerl2, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hersheypark Stadium: 45BearsFan, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Hershey's Chocolate World: Phillyfan0419, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Hersheypark Arena: Hersheyarena4ever at English Wikipedia, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in West Hempfield 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 West Hempfield Township.
West Hempfield Township owes part of its health edge to its incomes and has added a third more jobs in ten years.
Its public schools are run by Hempfield SD. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Farmdale El SchLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–6 | Grades K–6 | 489 | B+ |
| New Story PrivateLargest high schoolGrades K–12 | Grades K–12 | 183 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Jobs based here grew from 4,815 in 2013 to 6,467.
Most working residents leave West Hempfield Township for work: only 6% work in town. Jobs based in West Hempfield Township grew to 6,467 in 2023, 1,652 more than in 2013. 5.6% of West Hempfield Township residents live below the poverty line, against 7.6% in Pennsylvania’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns.
| West Hempfield Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $98,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 5.6% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 10% | 12% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
7.8 miles of trail in 11 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Chickies Rock County Park, 336 acres with 4.6 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Chickies Rock County Park | 4.6 mi | 336 |
| 2. Lake Grubb Nature Park | 1.3 mi | 52 |
| 3. Murray Ridge Park | 0.3 mi | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
West Hempfield Township has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 22° and about 23 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 65% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 25 flood insurance claims have been paid out in West Hempfield Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
West Hempfield Township's reported crime rate is well below Pennsylvania's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 9 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
| West Hempfield Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.4 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.6 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Pennsylvania average. 34% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 35% across Pennsylvania.
| West Hempfield Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 34% | 29% | 29% |
| Median age | 43.2 years | 43.2 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 22% | 20% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 21% | 18% |
53% women, 47% men
About 89 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2.4 points). Across Pennsylvania, 50.7% of residents are women. Among residents 75 and older, 50% are men (PA 41%).
| West Hempfield Township | PA | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11% | 10.8% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 10.8% | 9.7% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.4% | 9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.9% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12% | 12.6% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.9% | 11.9% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 17.1% | 13.6% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10.7% | 11.4% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.2% | 8.1% | 7% |
| No diploma | 7.4% | 7.9% | 10.4% |
| High school | 37.6% | 32.9% | 26% |
| Some college | 11.1% | 15.1% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.1% | 8.9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 20.3% | 20.9% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.4% | 14.3% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Against the 8,850 U.S. towns with household incomes like West Hempfield Township’s, it is less healthy than 63%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
West Hempfield Township beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 38% of West Hempfield Township adults sleep under 7 hours.
| West Hempfield Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 38% | 36% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 34% | 35% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 18% | 16% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 17% | 14% |
| What stands out | West Hempfield Township | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 8.5% | 5.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
10 within 15 miles of the center of West Hempfield Township
About 4 of every 100 West Hempfield Township residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
2 places in West Hempfield Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
Township in Pennsylvania, US
West Hempfield Township is a township in west central Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 17,061 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
9 towns share a border with West Hempfield Township.
It grades higher overall than all 6 graded towns on its borders; East Hempfield Township (A) comes closest.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Hempfield Township | #216 | A | B | — | A− | B |
| Rapho Township | #590 | B | C | — | B | B+ |
| Columbia | #995 | D | B− | C | D | D |
| Hellam Township | #260 | A | B | A | B | B |
| East Hempfield Township | #256 | A | C | B+ | A− | A− |
| Mountville | #275 | A− | B | — | A− | C |
| Wrightsville | — | — | B+ | — | B | B |
| East Donegal Township | #616 | B | C | — | B | B+ |
Wrightsville has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. West Hempfield Township, Rapho Township, Mountville, Wrightsville and East Donegal Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare West Hempfield Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. West Hempfield Township grades A overall, better than 88% of U.S. towns and #216 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades B for health and A− for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
