Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetPA-DOWNINGTOWN-PA · Downingtown, PA 8,163 pop · income 64th pct
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 Downingtown
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Downingtown on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
University of… · lowest
17,625
University of… · lowest
17,625 median HH income
9.4% of the leader · rank #1
Downingtown · this city
82,292
Downingtown · this city
82,292 median HH income
43.9% of the leader · rank #2
Tuttletown · near
82,292
Tuttletown · near
82,292 median HH income
43.9% of the leader · rank #3
De Witt · near
82,292
De Witt · near
82,292 median HH income
43.9% of the leader · rank #4
Hallsboro · near
82,292
Hallsboro · near
82,292 median HH income
43.9% of the leader · rank #5
Scipio · near
82,292
Scipio · near
82,292 median HH income
43.9% of the leader · rank #6
Rolling Hills… · highest
187,500
Rolling Hills… · highest
187,500 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 Downingtown 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: 8,163.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Downingtown - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Downingtown places in the 64th percentile for household income and the 28th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
64th
percentile, household income
68th
percentile, home value
54th
percentile, median rent
28th
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: Downingtown, PA
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 8,163 residents in Downingtown, a small town within Pennsylvania. Downingtown households earn a median of $82,292 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 5.2%. Typical homes in Downingtown are valued around $322,500, and the median resident age is 38.7 years. Educational attainment runs 46.4% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 71.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 10 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Construction Slowdown), down 96% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: per-100,000 total crime stands at 2185.0 in FBI UCR data, near 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). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,225 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Pennsylvania run around $260, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 Downingtown'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 comparison shortlist to housing and income to work and mobility to population change to reported crime to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Downingtown, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Downingtown?
Within Pennsylvania, the closest population matches are Breinigsville (8,159 residents, $116,631 income); Camp Hill (8,149 residents, $110,938 income); Bellevue (8,186 residents, $64,888 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Lake of the Woods, VA (8,165 residents); Corning, CA (8,168 residents); Rolling Hills Estates, CA (8,158 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Downingtown?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.9 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.2%, 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Downingtown?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 70.2%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Is Downingtown 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 +387 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +4.8% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 10 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
Reported crime
What can the FBI record say about safety in Downingtown?
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 2185.0 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, near the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 4% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
2090.0
Violent rate
95.0
Total reported rate
2185.0
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the education layer cover for Downingtown?
The NCES join finds 13 public schools within the city match. 46.4% 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
13
Bachelor's degree+
46.4%
Poverty estimate
5.2%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above median income · poverty 5.2% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average
B-
City profile score · Downingtown, PA
65/100
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 A-
46.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime B
95 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate C+
5.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income C+
$82,292
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); 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.
Downingtown profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 81/100 (A-) · 46.4%
Violent crime: 72/100 (B) · 95 /100k
Poverty rate: 64/100 (C+) · 5.2%
Household income: 62/100 (C+) · $82,292
Cost of living: 50/100 (C-) · 97.6 index
Where Downingtown sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Downingtown'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 - Downingtown highlighted among 9 peers.Read the chart values
Downingtown, PA (this city): home $322,500, crime 2,185/100k
Corning, CA : home $274,600, crime 2,643/100k
Rolling Hills Estates, CA : home $1,602,300, crime 1,646/100k
Springfield, FL : home $177,500, crime 2,977/100k
Camp Hill, PA : home $290,300, crime 1,113/100k
Bellevue, PA : home $177,900, crime 1,253/100k
Wilson, PA : home $191,800, crime 1,691/100k
Dormont, PA : home $204,800, crime 651/100k
Hatboro, PA : home $340,100, crime 581/100k
How does Downingtown compare to other US cities?
Here's how Downingtown stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income64% higher than other cities
Home value68% pricier than other cities
Median rent54% pricier than other cities
Safety28% 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: Downingtown ranks #351 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 Downingtown 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 Downingtown near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities
Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Downingtown ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Downingtown only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#495 of 1,765
72nd percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Home Value
#193 of 1,790
89th percentile in Pennsylvania
Poverty Rate
#963 of 1,856
47th percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#198 of 1,861
89th 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
64th percentile nationally for median household income · 28th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Downingtown's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Downingtown'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 Downingtown's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$322,50032nd percentilemore affordable than 32% 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
Downingtown's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.9×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#10,456 of 15,516
More affordable than 33% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#8,205 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.9×, Downingtown sits in the moderate band:
national rank #10,456 of 15,516 and #8,205 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
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
$82,292Downingtown, PA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Downingtown, 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 Downingtown, PA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)46.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)71.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
8,163
Median Income
$82,292
Median Home Value
$322,500
Median Age
38.7
Poverty Rate
5.2%
Labor force participation
71.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
46.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2185.0
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
95.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2090.0
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
13
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Downingtown's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
7,997 residents
2021
8,150 residents
2022
8,224 residents
2023
8,307 residents
2024
8,382 residents
2025
8,384 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📉 Construction Slowdown
Total Permits (2024)
10
housing units authorized
Single-Family
4
detached homes
Multifamily
6
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.2
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
256
26
230
$35.4M
2020
73
73
0
$15.2M
2021
32
32
0
$6.7M
2022
48
48
0
$11.1M
2023
35
35
0
$8.7M
2024
10
4
6
$2.6M
Permit volume decreased 96% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
70.2%
Carpool
11.5%
Public Transit
0.9%
Walk
1.1%
Work from Home
15.2%
Other
1.1%
Based on 4,739 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 Downingtown. 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 Downingtown 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 Downingtown sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Downingtown 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.