Metro area · Pennsylvania

Lancaster, PA metro area

Lancaster, PA is a metropolitan area of 1 county in Pennsylvania, home to 563,159 residents. Lancaster, PA metro area has a quality-of-life score of 71 out of 100 (high), ranking #265 of 925 US metro and micro areas. Among metro and micro areas based in Pennsylvania it ranks #7 of 36. It ranks best on flu vaccinations (high), drug overdose deaths (low) and poverty rate (low). It ranks worst on fine particulate matter (PM2.5) (high), child care cost burden (high) and public libraries (low).

71High
Quality-of-life score
#265 of 925 metro and micro areas
Pennsylvania
#7 of 36 in PA
Population
563,159 (2025)
Land area
944 mi²
Density
596.6 /mi²
CBSA code
29540

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 66 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map
Location of Lancaster, PA metro area

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US metro and micro areas.

  • Safety99#13/924
  • Economy89#103/925
  • Housing36#595/925
  • Health88#115/925
  • Healthcare61#364/923
  • Environment8#846/917
  • Education53#437/925
  • Infrastructure60#371/925
  • Community79#197/925
  • Leisure & amenities57#399/925

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Lancaster, PA metro area ranks highest and lowest among US metro and micro areas (score = percentile, 100 = best).

Strengths

Weaknesses

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.

Metro and micro areas like Lancaster, PA metro area five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Lancaster, PA metro area 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.

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).

Income

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

Homes

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

Getting to work

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

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

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.

Federal contract spending

Federal grants & assistance

Grants, loans (counted at their subsidy cost), direct payments and insurance, by fiscal year of the action (USAspending.gov, FABS). Reported apart from contracts and never added to them.

Counties in Lancaster, PA

Whole counties, as the U.S. Office of Management and Budget delineates the area. Federal spending below is the exact sum of these counties.

  1. Lancaster CountyCentral county79563,159

Principal cities

The cities the area is named for.

  1. LancasterPrincipal city57,719

Largest cities and towns

By population, for places with most of their residents in the area.

  1. Lancaster57,719
  2. Ephrata13,772
  3. Elizabethtown11,925
  4. Columbia10,278
  5. Willow Street9,647
  6. Lititz9,619
  7. Millersville8,982
  8. Mount Joy8,344
  9. Leola7,448
  10. New Holland5,780
  11. Manheim5,027
  12. East Petersburg4,591
  13. Maytown4,443
  14. Akron4,143
  15. Denver3,771
  16. Brownstown3,650
  17. Reamstown3,468
  18. Salunga3,355
  19. Strasburg3,109
  20. Mountville3,004
  21. Bowmansville2,959
  22. Rothsville2,934
  23. Marietta2,886
  24. Quarryville2,856

Other metro and micro areas in Pennsylvania

Areas based in Pennsylvania, best score first.

Neighboring metro and micro areas

Places that share a border, best score first.

Similar metro and micro areas

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.

JSON · /api/v1/places/M29540