Borough · Dauphin County, Pennsylvania

Highspire, Pennsylvania

Highspire is a borough in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, part of the Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA metro area. It has 2,732 residents. Highspire, Pennsylvania has a quality-of-life score of 41 out of 100 (moderate), ranking #9,248 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Pennsylvania it ranks #874 of 997 cities and towns. It ranks best on social associations (high), distance to an Amtrak station (low) and distance to an airport (low). It ranks worst on time spent in the emergency room (high), effective property tax rate (high) and child care cost burden (high).

41Moderate

Quality-of-life score: #9,248 of 15,651 cities and towns
Pennsylvania: #874 of 997 in PA
Population: 2,732 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 3,800.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 4234664

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 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.

Safety47#8,283/15,637
Economy31#10,769/15,631
Housing43#8,589/14,977
Health42#9,054/15,609
Healthcare70#4,755/15,650
Environment17#12,830/15,453
Education21#12,373/15,649
Infrastructure51#7,747/15,650
Community78#3,483/15,651
Leisure & amenities55#7,078/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Highspire, Pennsylvania ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Dauphin 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 · high17.1 /10k
95/100Pennsylvania 11.9 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDauphin County value
Distance to an Amtrak station · low6 mi
93/100Pennsylvania 21 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauDauphin County value
Distance to an airport · low9 mi
93/100Pennsylvania 36 miUnited States 33 mi2025Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauDauphin County value
Mental health care shortage · low0.0
91/100Pennsylvania 1.0United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationDauphin County value
Primary care shortage · low0.0
90/100Pennsylvania 1.0United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationDauphin County value
Primary care physicians · high102 /100k
84/100Pennsylvania 80 /100kUnited States 76 /100k2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDauphin County value

Weaknesses

Time spent in the emergency room · high236 min
6/100Pennsylvania 191 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesDauphin County value
Effective property tax rate · high2.04%
7/100Pennsylvania 1.25%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Child care cost burden · high39.2%
11/100Pennsylvania 34.6%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteDauphin County value
Fine particulate matter (PM2.5) · high9.0 µg/m³
11/100Pennsylvania 8.3 µg/m³United States 8.0 µg/m³2022Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyDauphin County value
Adult smoking · high20.1%
12/100Pennsylvania 15.6%United States 16.1%2022University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
New homes permitted · low0.0 /1k
13/100Pennsylvania 2.0 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data

Trends

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

PopulationRising
2,492 (2015-2019) → 2,732 (2020-2024)
+9.6%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
72.4% (2015-2019) → 91.7% (2020-2024)
+19 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Uninsured residents (under 65)Worsening
7.3% (2015-2019) → 14.0% (2020-2024)
+6.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B27010US 10.8% → 9.8%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
36.3% (2015-2019) → 30.1% (2020-2024)
−6.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
56.2% (2015-2019) → 50.2% (2020-2024)
−6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Child poverty rateImproving
29.1% (2015-2019) → 23.5% (2020-2024)
−5.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

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, Highspire, Pennsylvania improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 12 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

Household income+25%$42,222 → $52,618

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Highspire, Pennsylvania between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	20.8 min2015-2019	23.5 min2020-2024	+2.7 min	Within the margin of error	22%
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.5%2015-2019	13.2%2020-2024	−1.3 points	Within the margin of error	20%
Broadband subscriptions	72.4%2015-2019	91.7%2020-2024	+19 points	Within the margin of error	89%
Child poverty rate	29.1%2015-2019	23.5%2020-2024	−5.6 points	Within the margin of error	71%
Effective property tax rate	3.12%2015-2019	2.04%2020-2024	−1.1 points	Within the margin of error	99%
High school diploma or higher	89.4%2015-2019	93.1%2020-2024	+3.7 points	Within the margin of error	74%
Home price to income ratio	2.3×2015-2019	2.8×2020-2024	+0.5×	Within the margin of error	48%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3982015-2019	0.3782020-2024	−0.019	Within the margin of error	67%
Median household income	$42,2222015-2019	$52,6182020-2024	+25%	Improved	43%
Poverty rate	16.4%2015-2019	14.3%2020-2024	−2.1 points	Within the margin of error	63%
Rent as share of income	36.3%2015-2019	30.1%2020-2024	−6.2 points	Within the margin of error	86%
Rent-burdened households	56.2%2015-2019	50.2%2020-2024	−6 points	Within the margin of error	74%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	7.3%2015-2019	14.0%2020-2024	+6.8 points	Within the margin of error	7%

“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 Highspire, Pennsylvania five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Highspire, 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, Highspire, Pennsylvania itself moved +8.6 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

2,732 residents (±19)

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

1,340 households (±206)

Highspire, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Under $25k19%†258
$25k–50k26%†343
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,340 households (±206)

Highspire, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Own39%520
Rent61%820

Biggest shift since 2015–2019: Own (−13.6 points).

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

1,491 workers (±203)

Highspire, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Drive alone83%1,243
Carpool5.6%†84
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 Harrisburg-Carlisle, 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 Dauphin County, the county holding most of Highspire's residents.

Dauphin County has 6,951 employer establishments, 239 for every 10,000 residents (0.96× the US rate of 248; 1.01× Pennsylvania's), with 157,994 paid employees at an average annual pay of $65,592. The Census Bureau also counts 21,162 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 6,951; 21,162 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 239; US 248 · Pennsylvania 236
Paid employees: 157,994
Average annual pay: $65,592; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	576	19.8	0.95×About typical	12,832	$70,155	852
Restaurants and other eating places	527	18.1	0.99×About typical	8,557	$21,022	167
Specialty trade contractors	296	10.2	0.66×Fewer than typical	4,352	$78,864	1,164
Religious organizations	260	8.9	1.61×More than typical	1,605	$25,909	—
Limited-service restaurants	251	8.6	1.08×About typical	3,365	$18,450	81
Full-service restaurants	221	7.6	0.99×About typical	4,529	$23,184	54
Lessors of real estate	216	7.4	0.60×Fewer than typical	958	$57,210	2,000
Personal care services	198	6.8	1.43×More than typical	831	$27,715	824
Offices of physicians	194	6.7	1.03×About typical	4,707	$103,852	151
Individual and family services	175	6	2.15×More than typical	7,375	$38,955	129
Legal services	169	5.8	1.08×About typical	1,418	$111,890	190
Services to buildings and dwellings	163	5.6	0.83×About typical	1,630	$33,862	1,279

Rank places for an industry Open Dauphin County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 290,947 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 $1.5M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Highspire, Pennsylvania: $542 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $1.5M; +80% vs FY2025
Per resident: $542; 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

Agricultural Marketing Service$1.5M100%

Top recipients

DE LUNE CORP$1.5M100%

Spending by fiscal year

4.7MFY2023
2.6MFY2024
823.2KFY2025
1.5MFY2026

What was bought

Other equipment & supplies$1.5M100%

Top industries (NAICS)

Grain and oilseed milling · 3112$1.5M100%

Largest awards whose ZIP code lies mostly in Highspire, Pennsylvania

COMMODITIES FOR USG FOOD DONATIONS: 2000011290/4100034218/FARINA WHEAT PKG-10/18 OZ$1.1M
DE LUNE CORP· Dauphin County, PA· Other equipment & supplies· May 12, 2026 – Aug 24, 2026· 123J1426C1150
COMMODITIES FOR USG FOOD DONATIONS: 2000011048/4100033259/FARINA WHEAT PKG-10/18 OZ$593.9K
DE LUNE CORP· Dauphin County, PA· Other equipment & supplies· Dec 5, 2025 – May 19, 2026· 123J1426C0182

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

Highspire, Pennsylvania's figures are part of those of Dauphin County, PA ($31.4M in FY2026), never added to them: 4.7% of that total.

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

See federal money in Dauphin 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.

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

House

Scott PerryR-PA-10 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%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.

Dauphin County68100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA84

Other cities and towns in Dauphin 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/4234664

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends