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Place dossier plate
SheetPA-BETHLEHEM-PA · Bethlehem, PA 77,069 pop · income 45th pct · 74 tracts
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Bethlehem
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Bethlehem on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Erie · lowest
43,397
Erie · lowest
43,397 median HH income
32.9% of the leader · rank #1
Woodson · near
66,435
Woodson · near
66,435 median HH income
50.3% of the leader · rank #2
Brigham City · near
66,435
Brigham City · near
66,435 median HH income
50.3% of the leader · rank #3
Bethlehem · this city
66,443
Bethlehem · this city
66,443 median HH income
50.3% of the leader · rank #4
Pinehurst · near
66,447
Pinehurst · near
66,447 median HH income
50.3% of the leader · rank #5
Mayville · near
66,453
Mayville · near
66,453 median HH income
50.3% of the leader · rank #6
Alameda · highest
132,015
Alameda · highest
132,015 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Bethlehem on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 77,069.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Bethlehem - the verdict
Bethlehem ranks in the 45th percentile for household income and the 44th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
45th
percentile, household income
53rd
percentile, home value
54th
percentile, median rent
44th
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Bethlehem, PA
Pennsylvania's Bethlehem is a small city, with 77,069 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $66,443 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 10.2%. Bethlehem's housing stock carries a median value of $236,500, and the median resident age is 36.2 years. Educational attainment runs 35.0% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 56.6% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 152 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Building Boom), up 347% from five years earlier. Bethlehem reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 1574.6 incidents per 100,000 residents, below the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Pennsylvania tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Pennsylvania scores 97.6 (Near Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $1,225 monthly. Monthly utility costs average around $260 across Pennsylvania, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 67.4 out of 100 (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Bethlehem's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from reported crime to population change to comparison shortlist to work and mobility to within-city variation to schools and households to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Bethlehem, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Bethlehem?
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1574.6 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 31% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Is Bethlehem growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +3,946 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +5.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 152 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Which cities make useful reference points for Bethlehem?
Within Pennsylvania, the closest population matches are Scranton (76,074 residents, $49,531 income); Erie (94,156 residents, $43,397 income); Reading (94,836 residents, $45,599 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hammond, IN (77,098 residents); Racine, WI (77,155 residents); Woodbury, MN (76,945 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
What can 74 Census tracts reveal inside Bethlehem?
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
PlainCities matches 74 Census tracts to this city.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Bethlehem?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 70.0%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
1.9%
Work from home
14.2%
Drive alone
70.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 36,495 workers age 16+.
What does the education layer cover for Bethlehem?
The NCES join finds 25 public schools within the city match. 35.0% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
Matched public schools
25
Bachelor's degree+
35.0%
Poverty estimate
10.2%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Bethlehem?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 10.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
Household income
$66,443
Home value
$236,500
Value / income
3.6×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 10.2% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average
D
City profile score · Bethlehem, PA
48/100
5 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share B-
35.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Cost of living C-
97.6 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime D
206 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income D
$66,443
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
10.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bethlehem profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 67/100 (B-) · 35.0%
Cost of living: 50/100 (C-) · 97.6 index
Violent crime: 47/100 (D) · 206 /100k
Household income: 44/100 (D) · $66,443
Poverty rate: 39/100 (F) · 10.2%
Where Bethlehem sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Bethlehem's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Bethlehem highlighted among 11 peers.Read the chart values
Bethlehem, PA (this city): home $236,500, crime 1,575/100k
Hammond, IN : home $141,700, crime 3,814/100k
Racine, WI : home $158,100, crime 1,495/100k
Woodbury, MN : home $434,900, crime 1,279/100k
Alameda, CA : home $1,203,900, crime 5,231/100k
Wyoming, MI : home $203,900, crime 2,616/100k
Rapid City, SD : home $270,000, crime 4,511/100k
Scranton, PA : home $141,700, crime 1,627/100k
Erie, PA : home $108,200, crime 2,305/100k
Reading, PA : home $109,800, crime 1,772/100k
Harrisburg, PA : home $121,000, crime 2,755/100k
How does Bethlehem compare to other US cities?
Here's how Bethlehem stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income45% higher than other cities
Home value53% pricier than other cities
Median rent54% pricier than other cities
Safety44% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Pennsylvania and the picture shifts: Bethlehem ranks #315 of 402 Pennsylvania cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Bethlehem against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Pennsylvania only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Pennsylvania-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Bethlehem near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities
Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Bethlehem ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Bethlehem only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#902 of 1,765
49th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Home Value
#441 of 1,790
75th percentile in Pennsylvania
Poverty Rate
#539 of 1,856
71st percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#404 of 1,861
78th percentile in Pennsylvania
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Pennsylvania only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
45th percentile nationally for median household income · 44th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Bethlehem's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Bethlehem's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Bethlehem's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$236,50047th percentilemore affordable than 47% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Bethlehem's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#9,209 of 15,516
More affordable than 41% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#226 of 750
Mid-size cities (50,000–199,999)
At 3.6×, Bethlehem sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,209 of 15,516 and #226 of 750mid-size cities (50,000–199,999).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$66,443Bethlehem, PA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Bethlehem, PA median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Bethlehem, PA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)35.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)10.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)56.6%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
77,069
Median Income
$66,443
Median Home Value
$236,500
Median Age
36.2
Poverty Rate
10.2%
Labor force participation
56.6%
Bachelor's Degree+
35.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1574.6
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
205.8
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1368.8
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Schools
Total Schools
25
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Bethlehem's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
75,698 residents
2021
77,916 residents
2022
77,723 residents
2023
78,760 residents
2024
79,377 residents
2025
79,644 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
152
housing units authorized
Single-Family
16
detached homes
Multifamily
136
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
34
4
30
$4.7M
2020
90
22
68
$19.6M
2021
99
3
96
$9.5M
2022
375
18
357
$35.9M
2023
152
17
135
$18.6M
2024
152
16
136
$22.2M
Permit volume increased 347% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
70.0%
Carpool
6.9%
Public Transit
1.9%
Walk
3.2%
Work from Home
14.2%
Other
3.8%
Based on 36,495 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Pennsylvania statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $260
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Pennsylvania at $260 (electricity about $120 , water and sewer about $52 ).
These are Pennsylvania statewide averages, not a meter reading for Bethlehem. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Pennsylvania's BEA cost-of-living index is 97.6 (Near Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Bethlehem is $1,225/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Pennsylvania statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 67.4 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Pennsylvania statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Bethlehem sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Bethlehem compares to similar-size Pennsylvania cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, NCES CCD, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.