Census-designated place · Berks County, Pennsylvania

Pennside, Pennsylvania

Pennside is a census-designated place in Berks County, Pennsylvania, part of the Reading, PA metro area. It has 5,407 residents. Pennside, Pennsylvania has a quality-of-life score of 61 out of 100 (high), ranking #6,154 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Pennsylvania it ranks #523 of 997 cities and towns. It ranks best on mental health care shortage (low), flu vaccinations (high) and broadband subscriptions (high). It ranks worst on effective property tax rate (high), time spent in the emergency room (high) and drought exposure (high).

61High

Quality-of-life score: #6,154 of 15,651 cities and towns
Pennsylvania: #523 of 997 in PA
Population: 5,407 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 5,331.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 4259176

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#4,824/15,637
Economy59#6,452/15,631
Housing75#3,805/14,977
Health60#6,200/15,609
Healthcare64#5,651/15,650
Environment25#11,627/15,453
Education43#8,979/15,649
Infrastructure55#6,997/15,650
Community73#4,168/15,651
Leisure & amenities36#10,047/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Pennside, 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

Mental health care shortage · low0.0
91/100Pennsylvania 1.0United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationBerks County value
Flu vaccinations · high53.0%
87/100Pennsylvania 52.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBerks County value
Broadband subscriptions · high95.9%
84/100Pennsylvania 89.7%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Dental care shortage · low0.0
84/100Pennsylvania 4.8United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationBerks County value
Income inequality (Gini index) · low0.370
82/100Pennsylvania 0.474United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Rent-burdened households · low31.7%
82/100Pennsylvania 48.2%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070

Weaknesses

Effective property tax rate · high2.11%
6/100Pennsylvania 1.25%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Time spent in the emergency room · high231 min
7/100Pennsylvania 191 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesBerks County value
Drought exposure · high79%
14/100Pennsylvania 26%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAABerks County value
Child care cost burden · high37.9%
14/100Pennsylvania 34.6%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBerks County value
Preventable hospital stays · high3,728 /100k
14/100Pennsylvania 3,115 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBerks County value
Comfortable days · low23.7%
18/100Pennsylvania 23.8%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationBerks County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
4,304 (2015-2019) → 5,407 (2020-2024)
+26%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
85.5% (2015-2019) → 95.9% (2020-2024)
+10 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Bachelor's degree or higherImproving
19.4% (2015-2019) → 25.6% (2020-2024)
+6.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%
High school diploma or higherImproving
88.6% (2015-2019) → 94.3% (2020-2024)
+5.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
37.0% (2015-2019) → 31.7% (2020-2024)
−5.3 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Median household incomeImproving
$65,295 (2015-2019) → $77,192 (2020-2024)
+18%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

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, Pennside, Pennsylvania improved on 1 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 10 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+10 points85.5% → 95.9%

Declined1

Transit use−3.3 points3.3% → 0.0%

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Pennside, Pennsylvania between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	28.6 min2015-2019	27.5 min2020-2024	−1.2 min	Within the margin of error	62%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.4%2015-2019	25.6%2020-2024	+6.2 points	Within the margin of error	75%
Broadband subscriptions	85.5%2015-2019	95.9%2020-2024	+10 points	Improved	62%
Effective property tax rate	1.78%2015-2019	2.11%2020-2024	+0.3 points	Within the margin of error	1%
High school diploma or higher	88.6%2015-2019	94.3%2020-2024	+5.7 points	Within the margin of error	85%
Home price to income ratio	2.3×2015-2019	2.7×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	58%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3862015-2019	0.3702020-2024	−0.016	Within the margin of error	64%
Median household income	$65,2952015-2019	$77,1922020-2024	+18%	Within the margin of error	30%
Poverty rate	8.1%2015-2019	6.1%2020-2024	−2.1 points	Within the margin of error	63%
Public transit commuters	3.3%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	−3.3 points	Declined	10%
Rent as share of income	25.9%2015-2019	25.8%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	56%
Rent-burdened households	37.0%2015-2019	31.7%2020-2024	−5.3 points	Within the margin of error	72%

“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 Pennside, Pennsylvania five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Pennside, 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, Pennside, Pennsylvania itself moved +5.3 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

5,407 residents (±460)

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

2,207 households (±215)

Pennside, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Under $25k6.8%†150
$25k–50k22%†490
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,207 households (±215)

Pennside, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Own78%1,720
Rent22%487

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

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

2,945 workers (±310)

Pennside, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania share

Drive alone76%2,246
Carpool8.9%†262
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 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 Pennside'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.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $10.6K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Pennside, Pennsylvania: $1.96 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $10.6K; +24% vs FY2025
Per resident: $1.96; US $1,994
Sole-source: 70%; US 30%
Single offer: 9.8%; 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

Department of Veterans Affairs$13.7K100%
Agricultural Research Service$1,0419.8%

Top recipients

KEYSTONE NURSING & REHAB OF READING LLC$11.3K100%
SUPERIOR KEYSTONE LLC$2,47923%
NORTHEASTERN MASS SPECS LLC$1,0419.8%
ADVANCED CRANE TECHNOLOGIES LLC-$3810.0%
TIMOTHY TIMURA-$3,8050.0%

Spending by fiscal year

146KFY2017
8.7KFY2018
267.1KFY2019
263.5KFY2020
315.1KFY2021
154.4KFY2022
126KFY2023
17.9K

Top industries (NAICS)

Nursing care facilities (skilled nursing facilities) · 6231$11.3K100%
Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$2,47923%
Electronic and precision equipment repair and maintenance · 8112$1,0419.8%

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

Pennside, Pennsylvania's figures are part of those of Berks County, PA ($134.2M 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: Pennside 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.

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

House

Senate

David McCormickR-

County

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

Berks County62100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Reading, PA55

Other cities and towns in Berks 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/4259176

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends