Census-designated place · Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Ancient Oaks, Pennsylvania

Ancient Oaks is a census-designated place in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, part of the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ metro area. It has 7,777 residents. Ancient Oaks, Pennsylvania has a quality-of-life score of 85 out of 100 (very high), ranking #2,407 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Pennsylvania it ranks #150 of 997 cities and towns. It ranks best on flu vaccinations (high), poverty rate (low) and broadband subscriptions (high). It ranks worst on child care cost burden (high), public libraries (low) and drought exposure (high).

85Very high

Quality-of-life score: #2,407 of 15,651 cities and towns
Pennsylvania: #150 of 997 in PA
Population: 7,777 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 3,208.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 4202416

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety69#4,910/15,637
Economy86#2,254/15,631
Housing54#6,925/14,977
Health85#2,278/15,609
Healthcare96#644/15,650
Environment45#8,500/15,453
Education80#3,180/15,649
Infrastructure82#2,794/15,650
Community65#5,488/15,651
Leisure & amenities40#9,333/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Ancient Oaks, Pennsylvania ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Lehigh County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Flu vaccinations · high57.0%
97/100Pennsylvania 52.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLehigh County value
Poverty rate · low2.0%
96/100Pennsylvania 11.6%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Broadband subscriptions · high98.3%
96/100Pennsylvania 89.7%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Frequent mental distress · low13.8%
95/100Pennsylvania 15.9%United States 18.6%2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Child poverty rate · low1.6%
95/100Pennsylvania 15.3%United States 15.5%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Mammography screening · high56.0%
94/100Pennsylvania 51.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLehigh County value

Weaknesses

Child care cost burden · high43.7%
3/100Pennsylvania 34.6%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteLehigh County value
Public libraries · low0.2 /10k
14/100Pennsylvania 0.5 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesLehigh County value
Drought exposure · high75%
17/100Pennsylvania 26%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAALehigh County value
Comfortable days · low23.7%
18/100Pennsylvania 23.8%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationLehigh County value
Job growth · low-1.3%
22/100Pennsylvania -0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataLehigh County value
Effective property tax rate · high1.41%
25/100Pennsylvania 1.25%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
7,387 (2015-2019) → 7,777 (2020-2024)
+5.3%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
53.3% (2015-2019) → 43.3% (2020-2024)
−10 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
91.3% (2015-2019) → 98.3% (2020-2024)
+7 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Average commute timeImproving
29.3 min (2015-2019) → 21.7 min (2020-2024)
−26%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min
Median household incomeImproving
$110,000 (2015-2019) → $134,375 (2020-2024)
+22%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent as share of incomeImproving
31.8% (2015-2019) → 27.4% (2020-2024)
−4.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Ancient Oaks, Pennsylvania improved on 1 of 10 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+7 points91.3% → 98.3%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 10 measures

Change of every measure of Ancient Oaks, Pennsylvania between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	29.3 min2015-2019	21.7 min2020-2024	−7.6 min	Within the margin of error	96%
Bachelor's degree or higher	56.0%2015-2019	55.6%2020-2024	−0.4 points	Within the margin of error	25%
Broadband subscriptions	91.3%2015-2019	98.3%2020-2024	+7 points	Improved	44%
Effective property tax rate	1.74%2015-2019	1.41%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	77%
High school diploma or higher	98.1%2015-2019	95.5%2020-2024	−2.6 points	Within the margin of error	12%
Home price to income ratio	2.7×2015-2019	3.2×2020-2024	+0.6×	Within the margin of error	44%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3992015-2019	0.3872020-2024	−0.012	Within the margin of error	61%
Median household income	$110,0002015-2019	$134,3752020-2024	+22%	Within the margin of error	38%
Rent as share of income	31.8%2015-2019	27.4%2020-2024	−4.4 points	Within the margin of error	81%
Rent-burdened households	53.3%2015-2019	43.3%2020-2024	−10 points	Within the margin of error	82%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Ancient Oaks, Pennsylvania five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Ancient Oaks, Pennsylvania in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Ancient Oaks, Pennsylvania itself moved +10.5 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

7,777 residents (±830)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

2,550 households (±244)

Ancient Oaks, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Under $25k3.8%†97
$25k–50k12%†308
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

2,550 households (±244)

Ancient Oaks, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Own79%2,023
Rent21%†527

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

3,752 workers (±364)

Ancient Oaks, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Drive alone69%2,601
Carpool4.5%†168
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Lehigh County, the county holding most of Ancient Oaks's residents.

Lehigh County has 8,681 employer establishments, 228 for every 10,000 residents (0.92× the US rate of 248; 0.97× Pennsylvania's), with 201,146 paid employees at an average annual pay of $63,513. The Census Bureau also counts 31,152 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 8,681; 31,152 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 228; US 248 · Pennsylvania 236
Paid employees: 201,146
Average annual pay: $63,513; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Lehigh County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	831	21.9	1.05×About typical	17,784	$90,683	1,429
Restaurants and other eating places	617	16.2	0.88×About typical	10,284	$21,320	245
Specialty trade contractors	459	12.1	0.78×Fewer than typical	5,606	$76,082	1,694
Offices of physicians	336	8.8	1.37×More than typical	10,928	$117,767	290
Lessors of real estate	301	7.9	0.64×Fewer than typical	1,303	$53,091	3,075
Limited-service restaurants	289	7.6	0.95×About typical	4,191	$19,157	81
Truck transportation	284	7.5	1.48×More than typical	2,507	$68,611	1,242
Personal care services	258	6.8	1.42×More than typical	1,276	$28,278	1,282
Full-service restaurants	255	6.7	0.87×About typical	5,209	$23,654	131
Services to buildings and dwellings	247	6.5	0.96×About typical	3,592	$41,957	1,684
Religious organizations	225	5.9	1.07×About typical	1,806	$27,181	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	213	5.6	1.11×About typical	1,194	$48,225	396

Rank places for an industry Open Lehigh County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 380,068 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $35.2K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Ancient Oaks, Pennsylvania: $4.53 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $35.2K; −94% vs FY2025
Per resident: $4.53; US $1,994
Sole-source: 78%; US 30%
Single offer: 25%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

National Aeronautics and Space Administration$27.5K78%
U.S. Secret Service$8,63825%

Top recipients

ADVANCED RESEARCH SYSTEMS, INC.$27.5K78%
ARCUS GROUP, LLC$8,63825%
ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION LLC-$9030.0%

Spending by fiscal year

30.6KFY2017
23.6KFY2018
40.2KFY2019
144.9KFY2020
127.7KFY2021
21.7KFY2022
555.8KFY2023
246.6K

Top industries (NAICS)

Ventilation, heating, air-conditioning, and refrigeration equipment manufacturing · 3334$27.5K78%
Other support services · 5619$8,63825%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Ancient Oaks, Pennsylvania, so they do not add up across cities.

Ancient Oaks, Pennsylvania's figures are part of those of Lehigh County, PA ($241.5M in FY2026), never added to them: 0.0% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Ancient Oaks is mostly in Lehigh County.

See federal money in Lehigh County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Ancient Oaks, Pennsylvania is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Ryan MackenzieR-PA-7 · 100% of residentsWith party 94%Missed 1.9%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Lehigh County70100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ74

Other cities and towns in Lehigh County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/4202416

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends