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Place dossier plate
SheetPA-HEREFORD-PA · Hereford, PA 1,494 pop · income 48th 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 Hereford
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Hereford on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Covelo · lowest
35,735
Covelo · lowest
35,735 median HH income
25.0% of the leader · rank #1
Rosston · near
69,191
Rosston · near
69,191 median HH income
48.4% of the leader · rank #2
Pembroke · near
69,196
Pembroke · near
69,196 median HH income
48.4% of the leader · rank #3
Hereford · this city
69,205
Hereford · this city
69,205 median HH income
48.4% of the leader · rank #4
Palmyra · near
69,211
Palmyra · near
69,211 median HH income
48.4% of the leader · rank #5
Chapin · near
69,213
Chapin · near
69,213 median HH income
48.4% of the leader · rank #6
West Conshoho… · highest
142,917
West Conshoho… · highest
142,917 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
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Hereford on ACS population and median household income
. 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: 1,494.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Hereford places in the 48th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
48th
percentile, household income
54th
percentile, median rent
📝 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: Hereford, PA
1,494 people live in Hereford, Pennsylvania - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Hereford report a median income of $69,205 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 9.2%. The median resident age is 27.7 years. Educational attainment runs 25.6% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 61.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
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. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Pennsylvania's average monthly utility costs around $260 (state average). On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 67.4 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Hereford'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 schools and households to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Hereford, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Hereford?
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.
Within Pennsylvania, the closest population matches are West Myerstown (1,493 residents, $80,650 income); McConnellstown (1,496 residents, $98,000 income); Catawissa (1,498 residents, $53,472 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Spencer, TN (1,494 residents); Random Lake, WI (1,494 residents); Covelo, CA (1,495 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.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 25.6% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Hereford?
Working from home is the largest reported mode at 52.9%. 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. 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.
Below median income · poverty 9.2% (Above-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average
D
City profile score · Hereford, PA
48/100
4 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 C-
25.6%
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.
Household income D
$69,205
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate D
9.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Hereford profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 50/100 (C-) · 25.6%
Cost of living: 50/100 (C-) · 97.6 index
Household income: 48/100 (D) · $69,205
Poverty rate: 43/100 (D) · 9.2%
How does Hereford compare to other US cities?
Here's how Hereford stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income48% higher than other cities
Median rent54% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Hereford 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 Hereford near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities
Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Hereford ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Hereford only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#824 of 1,765
53rd percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Poverty Rate
#601 of 1,856
67th percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#731 of 1,861
60th 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
48th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$69,205Hereford, PA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Hereford, 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 Hereford, PA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)25.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)9.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)61.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,494
Median Income
$69,205
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
27.7
Poverty Rate
9.2%
Labor force participation
61.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
25.6%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
41.5%
Carpool
5.4%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.3%
Work from Home
52.9%
Based on 779 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 Hereford. 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 Hereford 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 Hereford sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Hereford 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, NCES CCD, 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.