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Place dossier plate
SheetPA-NORTHUMBERLAND-PA · Northumberland, PA 3,874 pop · income 31st 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 Northumberland
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Northumberland on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Dumas · lowest
34,938
Dumas · lowest
34,938 median HH income
25.5% of the leader · rank #1
Speedway · near
57,158
Speedway · near
57,158 median HH income
41.7% of the leader · rank #2
Palisade · near
57,159
Palisade · near
57,159 median HH income
41.7% of the leader · rank #3
Hancock · near
57,159
Hancock · near
57,159 median HH income
41.7% of the leader · rank #4
Coolidge · near
57,161
Coolidge · near
57,161 median HH income
41.7% of the leader · rank #5
Northumberland · this city
57,162
Northumberland · this city
57,162 median HH income
41.7% of the leader · rank #6
Berwyn · highest
137,206
Berwyn · highest
137,206 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 Northumberland 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: 3,874.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Northumberland - the verdict
Nationally, Northumberland sits in the 31st percentile for household income and the 54th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
31st
percentile, household income
29th
percentile, home value
54th
percentile, median rent
54th
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: Northumberland, PA
Pennsylvania's Northumberland is a small town, with 3,874 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in Northumberland report a median income of $57,162 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 16.3%. Home values in Northumberland run a median of $158,200, and the median resident age is 41.6 years. Educational attainment runs 20.2% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 64.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 2 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Low Activity). Northumberland reports a comparatively low crime rate: per-100,000 total crime stands at 1257.5 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. 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 Northumberland'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 reported crime to schools and households to housing and income to population change to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Northumberland, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, local building permits, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates.
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.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Northumberland?
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 Zelienople (3,870 residents, $64,583 income); Oak Lane (3,879 residents, $130,469 income); Waynesburg (3,868 residents, $49,648 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Dumas, AR (3,877 residents); Saugerties, NY (3,877 residents); Lewisburg, WV (3,871 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 Northumberland?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1257.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 45% 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.
What does the education layer cover for Northumberland?
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 2 public schools within the city match. 20.2% 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Northumberland?
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 2.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 16.3%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
Population change
Is Northumberland growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -85 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 2 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 downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
2020 estimate
3,885
2025 estimate
3,800
Period change
-2.2%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
What does the journey to work look like in Northumberland?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 82.3%. 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.
Drive alone
82.3%
Work from home
6.8%
Public transit
1.2%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,851 workers age 16+.
Below median income · poverty 16.3% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average
F
City profile score · Northumberland, PA
38/100
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.
Violent crime C
157 /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.
Bachelor's+ share F
20.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income F
$57,162
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
16.3%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Northumberland profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Violent crime: 57/100 (C) · 157 /100k
Cost of living: 50/100 (C-) · 97.6 index
Bachelor's+ share: 35/100 (F) · 20.2%
Household income: 30/100 (F) · $57,162
Poverty rate: 20/100 (F) · 16.3%
Where Northumberland sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Northumberland'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 - Northumberland highlighted among 25 peers.Read the chart values
Northumberland, PA (this city): home $158,200, crime 1,258/100k
Dumas, AR : home $90,800, crime 3,762/100k
Florence, CO : home $228,300, crime 1,292/100k
Goodland, KS : home $112,800, crime 1,731/100k
Waynesburg, PA : home $148,900, crime 494/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Northumberland compare to other US cities?
Here's how Northumberland stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income31% higher than other cities
Home value29% pricier than other cities
Median rent54% pricier than other cities
Safety54% 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, Northumberland ranks #270 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 Northumberland 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 Northumberland near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities
Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Northumberland ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Northumberland only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#1,210 of 1,765
31st percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Home Value
#992 of 1,790
44th percentile in Pennsylvania
Poverty Rate
#272 of 1,856
85th percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#1,016 of 1,861
45th 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
31st percentile nationally for median household income · 54th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Northumberland's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Northumberland'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 Northumberland's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$158,200Among the most affordablemore affordable than 71% 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
Northumberland's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,399 of 15,516
More affordable than 65% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,703 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.8×, Northumberland sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,399 of 15,516 and #4,703 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
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
$57,162Northumberland, PA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Northumberland, 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 Northumberland, PA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)20.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)16.3%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)64.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,874
Median Income
$57,162
Median Home Value
$158,200
Median Age
41.6
Poverty Rate
16.3%
Labor force participation
64.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
20.2%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1257.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
157.2
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1100.3
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
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Northumberland's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
3,885 residents
2021
3,868 residents
2022
3,834 residents
2023
3,816 residents
2024
3,810 residents
2025
3,800 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Low Activity
Total Permits (2024)
2
housing units authorized
Single-Family
2
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.5
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
1
1
0
$0.4M
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
1
1
0
$0.5M
2023
2
2
0
$0.3M
2024
2
2
0
$0.7M
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
82.3%
Carpool
6.2%
Public Transit
1.2%
Walk
1.9%
Work from Home
6.8%
Other
1.6%
Based on 1,851 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 Northumberland. 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 Northumberland 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 Northumberland sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Northumberland 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.