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Place dossier plate
SheetPA-CARLISLE-PA · Carlisle, PA 21,335 pop · income 35th pct · 55 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 Carlisle
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Carlisle on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
New Castle · lowest
41,478
New Castle · lowest
41,478 median HH income
28.3% of the leader · rank #1
Virgil · near
59,735
Virgil · near
59,735 median HH income
40.8% of the leader · rank #2
Crugers · near
59,737
Crugers · near
59,737 median HH income
40.8% of the leader · rank #3
Carlisle · this city
59,742
Carlisle · this city
59,742 median HH income
40.8% of the leader · rank #4
Benton · near
59,744
Benton · near
59,744 median HH income
40.8% of the leader · rank #5
Picture Rocks · near
59,745
Picture Rocks · near
59,745 median HH income
40.8% of the leader · rank #6
Stevenson Ran… · highest
146,404
Stevenson Ran… · highest
146,404 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 Carlisle 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: 21,335.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Carlisle - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Carlisle lands in the 35th percentile for household income and the 52nd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
35th
percentile, household income
46th
percentile, home value
54th
percentile, median rent
52nd
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: Carlisle, PA
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 21,335 residents in Carlisle, a small city within Pennsylvania. Households in Carlisle report a median income of $59,742 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 14.8%. Home values in Carlisle run a median of $212,400, and the median resident age is 34.4 years. About 37.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 62.8% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 41 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 29% from five years earlier. Carlisle reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 1313.5 in FBI UCR data, below the national average (a voluntary reporting program, read this as reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Pennsylvania tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Pennsylvania at 97.6 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Near Average). 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. Natural-hazard exposure scores 67.4 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Carlisle'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist to reported crime to schools and households to population change to housing and income to within-city variation; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Carlisle, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, commute-mode shares, annual population history, matched public-school count.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
Question 1
What does the journey to work look like in Carlisle?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 67.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Carlisle?
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.
Within Pennsylvania, the closest population matches are Baldwin (21,159 residents, $77,882 income); New Castle (21,727 residents, $41,478 income); Murrysville (20,839 residents, $120,685 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Gallup, NM (21,333 residents); Ashland, OR (21,343 residents); Stephenville, TX (21,345 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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Carlisle?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1313.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 42% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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.
PlainCities matches 55 Census tracts to this city.
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.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Carlisle?
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.
The NCES join finds 10 public schools within the city match. 37.8% 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.
Poverty estimate
14.8%
Bachelor's degree+
37.8%
Matched public schools
10
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Is Carlisle growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +2,532 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +12.6% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 41 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
2020 estimate
20,161
2025 estimate
22,693
Period change
+12.6%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
How far does income reach against housing in Carlisle?
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.
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 14.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
3.6×
Home value
$212,400
Household income
$59,742
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 14.8% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average
D
City profile score · Carlisle, PA
45/100
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
37.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime C-
169 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
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.
Household income F
$59,742
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
14.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Carlisle profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 71/100 (B) · 37.8%
Violent crime: 54/100 (C-) · 169 /100k
Cost of living: 50/100 (C-) · 97.6 index
Household income: 34/100 (F) · $59,742
Poverty rate: 23/100 (F) · 14.8%
Where Carlisle sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Carlisle'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 - Carlisle highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Carlisle, PA (this city): home $212,400, crime 1,314/100k
Gallup, NM : home $134,600, crime 5,400/100k
Ashland, OR : home $573,700, crime 2,019/100k
Stephenville, TX : home $226,300, crime 1,341/100k
South Lake Tahoe, CA : home $630,200, crime 2,247/100k
New Castle, PA : home $72,000, crime 1,120/100k
Murrysville, PA : home $316,400, crime 256/100k
Chambersburg, PA : home $196,200, crime 2,218/100k
West Mifflin, PA : home $131,400, crime 3,021/100k
How does Carlisle compare to other US cities?
Carlisle measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income35% higher than other cities
Home value46% pricier than other cities
Median rent54% pricier than other cities
Safety52% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Pennsylvania alone, Carlisle ranks #279 of 402 Pennsylvania cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Carlisle 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 Carlisle near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities
Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Carlisle ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Carlisle only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,133 of 1,765
36th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Home Value
#568 of 1,790
68th percentile in Pennsylvania
Poverty Rate
#331 of 1,856
82nd percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#337 of 1,861
82nd 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
35th percentile nationally for median household income · 52nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Carlisle's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Carlisle'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 Carlisle's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$212,400Among the most affordablemore affordable than 54% 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
Carlisle'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
#9,197 of 15,516
More affordable than 41% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,550 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.6×, Carlisle sits in the moderate band:
national rank #9,197 of 15,516 and #1,550 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
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
$59,742Carlisle, PA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Carlisle, 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 Carlisle, PA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)37.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)14.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)62.8%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
21,335
Median Income
$59,742
Median Home Value
$212,400
Median Age
34.4
Poverty Rate
14.8%
Labor force participation
62.8%
Bachelor's Degree+
37.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1313.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
168.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1145.0
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
10
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Carlisle's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
20,161 residents
2021
22,115 residents
2022
22,136 residents
2023
22,376 residents
2024
22,625 residents
2025
22,693 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
41
housing units authorized
Single-Family
21
detached homes
Multifamily
20
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.9
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
58
10
48
$8.1M
2020
11
6
5
$1.7M
2021
16
6
10
$2.4M
2022
135
5
130
$8.1M
2023
8
8
0
$2.7M
2024
41
21
20
$6.9M
Permit volume decreased 29% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
67.5%
Carpool
5.8%
Public Transit
0.5%
Walk
10.1%
Work from Home
10.8%
Other
5.3%
Based on 10,533 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 Carlisle. 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 Carlisle 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 Carlisle sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Carlisle 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.