Census-designated place · Monroe County, Pennsylvania

Effort, Pennsylvania

Effort is a census-designated place in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, part of the East Stroudsburg, PA metro area. It has 1,743 residents. Effort, Pennsylvania has a quality-of-life score of 64 out of 100 (high), ranking #5,595 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Pennsylvania it ranks #449 of 997 cities and towns. It ranks best on hot days (low), mental health care shortage (low) and primary care shortage (low). It ranks worst on child care cost burden (high), rent-burdened households (high) and preventable hospital stays (high).

64High

Quality-of-life score: #5,595 of 15,651 cities and towns
Pennsylvania: #449 of 997 in PA
Population: 1,743 (2020-2024)
Land area: 5 mi²
Density: 345.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 4222680

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.

Safety78#3,418/15,637
Economy53#7,317/15,631
Housing32#10,172/14,977
Health59#6,380/15,609
Healthcare58#6,609/15,650
Environment82#2,752/15,453
Education67#5,087/15,649
Infrastructure58#6,524/15,650
Community40#9,369/15,651
Leisure & amenities53#7,352/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Hot days · low2 days
95/100Pennsylvania 7 daysUnited States 42 days2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationMonroe County value
Mental health care shortage · low0.0
91/100Pennsylvania 1.0United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationMonroe County value
Primary care shortage · low0.0
90/100Pennsylvania 1.0United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationMonroe County value
Poverty rate · low3.5%
85/100Pennsylvania 11.6%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001High uncertainty
Public transit commuters · high2.1%
84/100Pennsylvania 3.6%United States 3.2%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08301High uncertainty
Natural hazard risk · low9.3
84/100Pennsylvania 22.42025Federal Emergency Management AgencyMonroe County value

Weaknesses

Child care cost burden · high46.1%
1/100Pennsylvania 34.6%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMonroe County value
Rent-burdened households · high100.0%
14/100Pennsylvania 48.2%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Preventable hospital stays · high3,573 /100k
18/100Pennsylvania 3,115 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMonroe County value
Dentists · low39 /100k
21/100Pennsylvania 73 /100kUnited States 75 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMonroe County value
Effective property tax rate · high1.51%
21/100Pennsylvania 1.25%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Time spent in the emergency room · high200 min
22/100Pennsylvania 191 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMonroe County value

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
2,575 (2015-2019) → 1,743 (2020-2024)
−32%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
0.0% (2015-2019) → 100.0% (2020-2024)
+100 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeWorsening
21.9% (2015-2019) → 38.2% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.7× (2015-2019) → 2.8× (2020-2024)
+63%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
High school diploma or higherImproving
88.4% (2015-2019) → 95.5% (2020-2024)
+7.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Income inequality (Gini index)Worsening
0.298 (2015-2019) → 0.390 (2020-2024)
+31%5 yearsCensus table B19083US 0.482 → 0.483

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, Effort, Pennsylvania improved on 0 of 9 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 7 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined2

Rent burden+100 points0.0% → 100.0%
Inequality+0.0920.298 → 0.390

All 9 measures

Change of every measure of Effort, Pennsylvania between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	40.8 min2015-2019	40.6 min2020-2024	−0.2 min	Within the margin of error	50%
Bachelor's degree or higher	23.4%2015-2019	26.6%2020-2024	+3.2 points	Within the margin of error	53%
Broadband subscriptions	92.3%2015-2019	96.2%2020-2024	+3.9 points	Within the margin of error	25%
Effective property tax rate	2.31%2015-2019	1.51%2020-2024	−0.8 points	Within the margin of error	98%
High school diploma or higher	88.4%2015-2019	95.5%2020-2024	+7.2 points	Within the margin of error	90%
Home price to income ratio	1.7×2015-2019	2.8×2020-2024	+1.1×	Within the margin of error	19%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.2982015-2019	0.3902020-2024	+0.092	Declined	6%
Median household income	$93,6572015-2019	$110,9092020-2024	+18%	Within the margin of error	30%
Rent-burdened households	0.0%2015-2019	100.0%2020-2024	+100 points	Declined	0%

“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 Effort, Pennsylvania five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Effort, 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, Effort, Pennsylvania itself moved −12.5 points in standing on average over the same 9 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

1,743 residents (±544)

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

628 households (±165)

Effort, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Under $25k6.7%†42
$25k–50k26%†164
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

628 households (±165)

Effort, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Own91%571
Rent9.1%†57

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

702 workers (±216)

Effort, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Drive alone83%†582
Carpool4.0%†28
Public transit

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 East Stroudsburg, PA

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 Monroe County, the county holding most of Effort's residents.

Monroe County has 3,527 employer establishments, 211 for every 10,000 residents (0.85× the US rate of 248; 0.90× Pennsylvania's), with 47,564 paid employees at an average annual pay of $49,058. The Census Bureau also counts 13,059 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 3,527; 13,059 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 211; US 248 · Pennsylvania 236
Paid employees: 47,564
Average annual pay: $49,058; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	319	19.1	1.04×About typical	4,461	$21,298	81
Ambulatory health care services	257	15.4	0.74×Fewer than typical	3,014	$60,145	466
Specialty trade contractors	241	14.5	0.93×About typical	1,246	$53,916	1,186
Full-service restaurants	153	9.2	1.19×About typical	2,438	$22,842	37
Lessors of real estate	147	8.8	0.72×Fewer than typical	763	$47,980	1,524
Construction of buildings	120	7.2	0.95×About typical	413	$50,850	475
Services to buildings and dwellings	119	7.1	1.06×About typical	530	$35,687	842
Limited-service restaurants	117	7	0.87×About typical	1,499	$19,708	28
Personal care services	113	6.8	1.42×More than typical	450	$24,007	362
Automotive repair and maintenance	108	6.5	1.29×More than typical	505	$47,648	159
Building equipment contractors	102	6.1	1.02×About typical	425	$51,009	221
Clothing and accessories stores	97	5.8	1.60×More than typical	1,320	$20,304	128

Rank places for an industry Open Monroe County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 166,762 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 $1,971 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Effort, Pennsylvania: $1.13 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $1,971; −84% vs FY2025
Per resident: $1.13; US $1,994
Sole-source: 0.0%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service$2,798100%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

-26.4FY2017
-1.3KFY2018
28.1KFY2019
2.4KFY2020
168.9KFY2021
137.8KFY2022
104.6KFY2023
136.1KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Other general purpose machinery manufacturing · 3339$1,94399%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$47024%
Waste collection · 5621$38520%

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 Effort, Pennsylvania, so they do not add up across cities.

Effort, Pennsylvania's figures are part of those of Monroe County, PA ($97.2M 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: Effort is mostly in Monroe County.

See federal money in Monroe 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.

Effort, Pennsylvania is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

County

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

Monroe County70100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

East Stroudsburg, PA60

Other cities and towns in Monroe 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/4222680

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends