Borough · Bedford County, Pennsylvania

Bedford, Pennsylvania

Bedford is a borough in Bedford County, Pennsylvania. It has 2,851 residents. Bedford, Pennsylvania has a quality-of-life score of 39 out of 100 (low), ranking #9,522 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Pennsylvania it ranks #899 of 997 cities and towns. It ranks best on social associations (high), grocery stores (high) and homicide rate (low). It ranks worst on broadband subscriptions (low), new business applications (low) and median household income (low).

39Low

Quality-of-life score: #9,522 of 15,651 cities and towns
Pennsylvania: #899 of 997 in PA
Population: 2,851 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 2,627.5 /mi²
FIPS code: 4204944

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 71 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.

Safety75#3,844/15,637
Economy18#12,869/15,631
Housing37#9,368/14,977
Health44#8,680/15,609
Healthcare40#9,391/15,650
Environment28#11,146/15,453
Education60#6,299/15,649
Infrastructure19#12,736/15,650
Community74#4,095/15,651
Leisure & amenities46#8,406/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Bedford, Pennsylvania ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Bedford 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

Social associations · high19.4 /10k
98/100Pennsylvania 11.9 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBedford County value
Grocery stores · high3.6 /10k
97/100Pennsylvania 1.9 /10kUnited States 1.7 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBedford County value
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Pennsylvania 4.1 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataBedford County value
Average commute time · low15.4 min
91/100Pennsylvania 26.3 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Property crime rate · low531 /100k
88/100Pennsylvania 1,324 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationBedford County value
Pharmacies · high2.3 /10k
84/100Pennsylvania 1.9 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBedford County value

Weaknesses

Broadband subscriptions · low76.3%
1/100Pennsylvania 89.7%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
New business applications · low7.7 /1k
5/100Pennsylvania 12.4 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauBedford County value
Median household income · low$41,375
7/100Pennsylvania $77,532United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013
Comfortable days · low23.1%
8/100Pennsylvania 23.8%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationBedford County value
Primary care physicians · low25 /100k
9/100Pennsylvania 80 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBedford County value
Suicide rate · high23.2 /100k
12/100Pennsylvania 14.2 /100kUnited States 14.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataBedford County value

Trends

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

Child poverty rateImproving
12.0% (2015-2019) → 0.0% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.9× (2015-2019) → 4.4× (2020-2024)
+51%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
66.5% (2015-2019) → 76.3% (2020-2024)
+9.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
26.7% (2015-2019) → 18.1% (2020-2024)
−8.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
High school diploma or higherImproving
87.9% (2015-2019) → 93.7% (2020-2024)
+5.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
49.9% (2015-2019) → 55.4% (2020-2024)
+5.5 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%

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, Bedford, Pennsylvania improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 11 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+9.8 points66.5% → 76.3%

Declined1

Bachelor's+−8.6 points26.7% → 18.1%

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Bedford, Pennsylvania between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	17.1 min2015-2019	15.4 min2020-2024	−1.7 min	Within the margin of error	67%
Bachelor's degree or higher	26.7%2015-2019	18.1%2020-2024	−8.6 points	Declined	3%
Broadband subscriptions	66.5%2015-2019	76.3%2020-2024	+9.8 points	Improved	59%
Effective property tax rate	1.06%2015-2019	0.80%2020-2024	−0.3 points	Within the margin of error	69%
High school diploma or higher	87.9%2015-2019	93.7%2020-2024	+5.8 points	Within the margin of error	85%
Home price to income ratio	2.9×2015-2019	4.4×2020-2024	+1.5×	Within the margin of error	9%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4412015-2019	0.4652020-2024	+0.023	Within the margin of error	31%
Median household income	$49,8442015-2019	$41,3752020-2024	−17%	Within the margin of error	2%
Poverty rate	12.5%2015-2019	12.5%2020-2024	+0 points	Within the margin of error	43%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	29.9%2015-2019	31.2%2020-2024	+1.3 points	Within the margin of error	45%
Rent-burdened households	49.9%2015-2019	55.4%2020-2024	+5.5 points	Within the margin of error	36%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	4.9%2015-2019	5.9%2020-2024	+1 points	Within the margin of error	35%

“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 Bedford, Pennsylvania five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Bedford, 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, Bedford, Pennsylvania itself moved −8 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

2,851 residents (±17)

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

1,429 households (±158)

Bedford, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Under $25k28%†393
$25k–50k26%369
$50k–75k18%†

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,429 households (±158)

Bedford, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Own48%682
Rent52%747

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (−9.4 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,493 workers (±206)

Bedford, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Drive alone87%1,292
Carpool6.0%†90
Public transit0.0%0

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 Bedford County, the county holding most of Bedford's residents.

Bedford County has 1,080 employer establishments, 228 for every 10,000 residents (0.92× the US rate of 248; 0.96× Pennsylvania's), with 13,015 paid employees at an average annual pay of $45,590. The Census Bureau also counts 3,448 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,080; 3,448 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 228; US 248 · Pennsylvania 236
Paid employees: 13,015
Average annual pay: $45,590; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	78	16.4	0.79×Fewer than typical	765	$61,370	91
Religious organizations	71	15	2.70×More than typical	255	$24,176	—
Restaurants and other eating places	69	14.5	0.79×Fewer than typical	829	$17,803	7
Specialty trade contractors	67	14.1	0.91×About typical	411	$65,864	387
Banks and credit unions	53	11.2	3.46×More than typical	213	$61,117	—
Construction of buildings	40	8.4	1.11×About typical	148	$42,399	140
Truck transportation	35	7.4	1.46×More than typical	203	$61,054	184
Offices of physicians	33	7	1.07×About typical	263	$94,118	21
Full-service restaurants	31	6.5	0.85×About typical	465	$17,929	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	28	5.9	1.17×About typical	165	$33,873	146
Limited-service restaurants	26	5.5	0.68×Fewer than typical	296	$17,490	—
Gasoline stations	24	5.1	1.56×More than typical	559	$31,612	—

Rank places for an industry Open Bedford County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 47,448 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

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

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

See federal money in Bedford 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.

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

House

John JoyceR-PA-13 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 0.1%

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.

Bedford County52100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Bedford 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
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
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/4204944

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends