Census-designated place · Berks County, Pennsylvania

Hereford, Pennsylvania

Hereford is a census-designated place in Berks County, Pennsylvania, part of the Reading, PA metro area. It has 1,452 residents. Hereford, Pennsylvania has a quality-of-life score of 58 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #6,555 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Pennsylvania it ranks #604 of 997 cities and towns. It ranks best on home price to income ratio (low), rent as share of income (low) and uninsured residents (under 65) (low). It ranks worst on fiber internet available (low), time spent in the emergency room (high) and fast internet available (low).

58Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #6,555 of 15,651 cities and towns
Pennsylvania: #604 of 997 in PA
Population: 1,452 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 1,466.8 /mi²
FIPS code: 4234008

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 of 83 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.

Safety70#4,723/15,637
Economy57#6,673/15,631
Housing99#178/14,977
Health65#5,501/15,609
Healthcare69#4,806/15,650
Environment25#11,628/15,453
Education46#8,404/15,650
Infrastructure3#15,205/15,650
Community73#4,168/15,651
Leisure & amenities36#10,047/15,651
Nature & outdoors—

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Home price to income ratio · low0.7×
100/100Pennsylvania 3.3×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077High uncertainty
Rent as share of income · low17.7%
99/100Pennsylvania 29.2%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Uninsured residents (under 65) · low1.6%
93/100Pennsylvania 7.2%United States 9.8%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B27010High uncertainty
Mental health care shortage · low0.0
91/100Pennsylvania 1.0United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationBerks County value
Unemployment rate · low1.6%
87/100Pennsylvania 4.3%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Flu vaccinations · high53.0%
87/100Pennsylvania 52.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBerks County value

Weaknesses

Fiber internet available · low0.0%
4/100Pennsylvania 58.4%United States 55.9%Dec 2025Federal Communications Commission
Time spent in the emergency room · high231 min
7/100Pennsylvania 191 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesBerks County value
Fast internet available · low92.3%
8/100Pennsylvania 96.5%United States 95.4%Dec 2025Federal Communications Commission
Child care net cost · high37.9%
13/100Pennsylvania 34.6%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBerks County value
Drought exposure · high79%
14/100Pennsylvania 25%United States 43%Nov 2025–Oct 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAABerks County value
Preventable hospital stays · high3,728 /100k
14/100Pennsylvania 3,115 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBerks County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
963 (2015-2019) → 1,452 (2020-2024)
+51%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Median household incomeImproving
$55,156 (2015-2019) → $115,139 (2020-2024)
+109%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Child poverty rateWorsening
0.0% (2015-2019) → 19.6% (2020-2024)
+20 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
0.0% (2015-2019) → 15.9% (2020-2024)
+16 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
10.8% (2015-2019) → 25.1% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
Households subscribed to broadbandImproving
78.3% (2015-2019) → 90.5% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

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, Hereford, Pennsylvania improved on 0 of 5 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 5 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.

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 5 measures

Change of every measure of Hereford, Pennsylvania between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	33.8 min2015-2019	33.3 min2020-2024	−0.5 min	Within the margin of error	54%
High school diploma or higher	82.6%2015-2019	86.7%2020-2024	+4 points	Within the margin of error	76%
Households subscribed to broadband	78.3%2015-2019	90.5%2020-2024	+12 points	Within the margin of error	69%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3742015-2019	0.2892020-2024	−0.085	Within the margin of error	93%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15075 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 Hereford, Pennsylvania five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Hereford, 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, Hereford, Pennsylvania itself moved +7.7 points in standing on average over the same 4 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

1,452 residents (±648)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†
50–59†
40–49†
30–39†
20–29†
10–19†
Under 10†

Share of all residents, each sex

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: 20–29 men (+20.8 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B01001View table on data.census.gov

Race and Hispanic origin

1,452 residents (±648)

Hereford, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

White47%†677
Black0.0%0
Hispanic or Latino53%†765

Education

869 residents (±259)

Hereford, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

No high school diploma13%†116
High school or GED48%†421
Some college11%

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Income

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

Household income

367 households (±74)

Hereford, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Under $25k15%†54
$25k–50k16%†57
$50k–75k15%†56
$75k–100k0.0%0
$100k–150k51%†189
$150k–200k3.0%†11
$200k or more0.0%0

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: $100k–150k (+45.4 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B19001View table on data.census.gov

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Homes

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

Owners and renters

367 households (±74)

Hereford, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Own64%†235
Rent36%†132

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (−35.0 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B25003View table on data.census.gov

Rent paid

132 households (±101)

Hereford, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Under $7506.1%†8
$750–1,00011%†14
$1,000–1,5009.8%†

Home values

235 homes (±112)

Hereford, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Under $150k70%†164
$150k–250k4.7%†11
$250k–400k21%†

Age of homes

402 homes (±86)

Hereford, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

2010 or later22%†90
2000–20097.5%†30
1980–199932%†129

Size of homes

402 homes (±86)

Hereford, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Studio0.0%0
1 bedroom0.0%0
2 bedrooms23%†91

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

787 workers (±411)

Hereford, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Drive alone41%†325
Carpool4.2%†33
Public transit0.0%0
Walk0.1%†1
Bike0.0%0
Work from home54%†428
Other0.0%0

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Work from home (+47.9 points).

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

Table view

American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2020–2024 · Table B08301View table on data.census.gov

Time to get to work

359 workers (±127)

Hereford, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Under 15 min11%†41
15–29 min22%†79
30–44 min51%†

Counts are survey estimates, each with a margin of error. The grouping into ranges is ours; every count is the Census Bureau's.

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 Reading, 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 Berks County, the county holding most of Hereford's residents.

Berks County has 8,521 employer establishments, 196 for every 10,000 residents (0.79× the US rate of 248; 0.83× Pennsylvania's), with 172,167 paid employees at an average annual pay of $57,525. The Census Bureau also counts 30,812 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 8,521; 30,812 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 196; US 248 · Pennsylvania 236
Paid employees: 172,167
Average annual pay: $57,525; US $68,342

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

Restaurants and other eating places	606	13.9	0.76×Fewer than typical	10,634	$19,275	262
Ambulatory health care services	596	13.7	0.66×Fewer than typical	9,960	$84,336	1,250
Specialty trade contractors	590	13.6	0.88×About typical	5,101	$77,374	2,178
Services to buildings and dwellings	359	8.3	1.22×About typical	2,598	$48,843	1,677
Religious organizations	287	6.6	1.19×About typical	2,511	$27,239	—
Full-service restaurants	274	6.3	0.82×About typical	5,176	$20,459	80
Limited-service restaurants	266	6.1	0.76×Fewer than typical	4,673	$18,224	147
Construction of buildings	257	5.9	0.78×Fewer than typical	1,766	$69,414	980
Automotive repair and maintenance	256	5.9	1.17×About typical	1,220	$43,911	524
Lessors of real estate	250	5.7	0.47×Fewer than typical	909	$112,314	2,807
Building equipment contractors	244	5.6	0.93×About typical	2,733	$81,247	422
Personal care services	240	5.5	1.16×About typical	1,240	$26,827	1,287

Rank places for an industry Open Berks County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 435,061 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.

Public schools

Public schools located in Hereford, Pennsylvania and the districts that run them (NCES Common Core of Data). Students per teacher counts full-time-equivalent teachers, not the size of each class.

Hereford, Pennsylvania has 1 public schools with 504 students and 13.6 students per teacher (Pennsylvania: 13.4, US: 15.2).

Elementary schools: 1
Middle schools: 0
High schools: 0
Students per teacher: 13.6; US: 15.2

School districts

Districts with schools here, by students here.

District	Schools	Students	Spending / student
Upper Perkiomen SD	1	504	$20,684

Largest schools

School	Grades	Students	Students / teacher	District
Hereford El Sch	K–3	504	13.6	Upper Perkiomen SD

All 1 schools

Sources

Public schools and school districts (National Center for Education Statistics · U.S. Census Bureau), 2024–25 school year. NCES Common Core of Data and EDGE public school geocodes; U.S. Census Bureau, Annual Survey of School System Finances and cartographic boundary files (places).

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Hereford, Pennsylvania: $0 per resident (US $2,152).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $2,152
Sole-source: —; US 31%
Single offer: —; US 8.9%

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

Top buying agencies

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

3.7KFY2017
3.5KFY2019
300.2KFY2021
166.3KFY2022
801.5KFY2023
335KFY2024
0FY2025

What was bought

Part of this section could not be loaded in time.

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 15, 2026, loaded Oct 15, 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 Hereford, Pennsylvania, so they do not add up across cities.

Hereford, Pennsylvania's figures are part of those of Berks County, PA ($137.5M 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: Hereford is mostly in Berks County.

See federal money in Berks 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.

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