Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. West Lampeter Township grades B+ overall, ranked 479th of 1032 in Pennsylvania. The median household earns $110K. Crime is low: it reports less per resident than 86% of U.S. towns and its public schools beat 85% of Pennsylvania towns on state tests and graduation. The trade-off is money: homes are expensive, about $345K for a typical one and 4 times the Lancaster metro’s $87K median household income. West Lampeter Township’s median rent is $3,028 a month, above both Pennsylvania’s towns ($1,114 a month) and U.S. towns ($1,185 a month). West Lampeter Township is home to Lancaster County Career and Technology Center. On civic life, just 121 of Pennsylvania’s 1,717 towns do worse.
Where West Lampeter Township beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Hans Herr El Sch | 3–5 | 611 |
| Lampeter El Sch | 1–2 | 375 |
| Lampeter-Strasburg Early Childhood Center | K | 185 |
15,209 counted in 2010 and 17,383 in 2020; an estimated 17,275 in 2025.
Growth has leveled off: within 1% of 2020, after 14.3% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far West Lampeter Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 13,145 in 2000, 17,365 in 2020. The archive holds 3 old photos and papers and 5 maps from 1943 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Explore the history →Who provides power, water and the rest in West Lampeter 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 Lampeter Township.
West Lampeter Township owes part of its health edge to its incomes and is safe by national standards but not by Pennsylvania’s; it also has a long record of flood insurance claims.
16 miles of trail in 8 parks and preserves. The trail density in West Lampeter Township is 1.0 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Lancaster County Central Park, 372 acres with 9.7 miles of trail.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Lancaster County Central Park | 9.7 mi | 372 |
| 2. Village Park | 1.5 mi | 54 |
| 3. Shiprock Woods Nature Preserve | 0.8 mi | 37 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A for schools comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $345K.
Its public schools are run by Lampeter-Strasburg SD. Three of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Lampeter-Strasburg SHS, with 890 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Martin Meylin MSLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 686 | B+ |
| Lampeter-Strasburg SHSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 890 | B− |
| Hans Herr El SchTop results in townGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 611 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
At 6.7 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 71% of Pennsylvania’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 5 reported in 2025, 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
West Lampeter Township’s violent crime rate is 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
| West Lampeter Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.3 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Most working residents leave West Lampeter Township for work: only 9% work in town. Jobs based in West Lampeter Township grew to 4,803 in 2023, 791 more than in 2013. 3.7% of West Lampeter Township residents live below the poverty line.
| West Lampeter Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $110,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 3.7% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 9.2% | 6.3% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
West Lampeter Township has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 22° and about 21 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
91 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 10 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 57% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 91 flood insurance claims have been paid out in West Lampeter Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Against the 7,122 U.S. towns with household incomes like West Lampeter Township’s, it is less healthy than 81%: its national edge comes with its incomes.
West Lampeter Township beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 11% of adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance in West Lampeter Township.
| West Lampeter Township | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 6.9% | 8.1% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 38% | 36% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 19% | 19% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 18% | 16% |
| What stands out | West Lampeter Township | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 11% | 5.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around West Lampeter Township. Close and well known come first.
29 mi Theme parkHersheypark3.0M visitors a year
3 mi Theme parkDutch Wonderland
32 mi GardenLongwood Gardens
5 mi MuseumRailroad Museum of Pennsylvania
37 mi MuseumWinterthur Museum, Garden and Library
14 mi MuseumEphrata CloisterHersheypark: Michael Gray, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dutch Wonderland: FlugKerl2, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Longwood Gardens: P. Hughes, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania: Dough4872, Public domain · Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library: Photo by and (c)2007 Derek Ramsey (Ram-Man), CC BY-SA 2.5 · Ephrata Cloister: 1549bcp at English Wikipedia, Public domain
8 within 15 miles of the center of West Lampeter Township
About 5 of every 100 West Lampeter Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Pennsylvania.
27.9% of the town is conserved land, across 8 parks and preserves.
4 places in West Lampeter Township on the National Register of Historic Places.
Township in Pennsylvania, US
West Lampeter Township is a township that is located in central Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 17,365 at the time of the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
7 towns share a border with West Lampeter Township.
Lancaster Township next door grades lower for schools (D to West Lampeter Township’s A) and higher for cost of living (C to D).
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Lampeter Township | #479 | B+ | D | A | A | B− |
| Strasburg Township | #414 | B+ | C+ | — | A | B+ |
| Lancaster | #1002 | D | C+ | — | D | C |
| Lancaster Township | #952 | C− | C | — | D | B |
| Refton | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| East Lampeter Township | #681 | B− | C | C+ | B+ | B− |
| Pequea Township | #416 | B+ | C | — | A− | B+ |
| Willow Street | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Strasburg Township, Lancaster, Lancaster Township and Pequea Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Refton and Willow Street aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare West Lampeter Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. West Lampeter Township grades B+ overall, better than 68% of U.S. towns and #479 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades B− for health, A for safety 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.
