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Place dossier plate
SheetPA-SHIPPENSBURG-UNIVERSITY-PA · Shippensburg University, PA 1,944 pop
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.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Shippensburg University 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: 1,944.
Pennsylvania's Shippensburg University counts 1,944 residents. Source: Census ACS.
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: Shippensburg University, PA
Pennsylvania's Shippensburg University is a small town, with 1,944 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The median resident age is 19.7 years. 75.0% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 60.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Pennsylvania tracks close to the national cost-of-living baseline: the state registers 97.6 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Near Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. 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. 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 Shippensburg University'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 work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Shippensburg University, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Shippensburg University?
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 Mercersburg (1,940 residents, $69,583 income); Georgetown CDP (Luzerne County) (1,953 residents, $57,000 income); Glen Lyon (1,956 residents, $34,416 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Dauphin Island, AL (1,944 residents); Shinnecock Hills, NY (1,944 residents); Berry Hill, TN (1,944 residents). These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
What does the journey to work look like in Shippensburg University?
Walking is the largest reported mode at 43.6%. 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.
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average
A-
City profile score · Shippensburg University, PA
82/100
3 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.
Poverty rate A+
0.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share A+
75.0%
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.
Household income N/A
N/A
No ACS median household income on file for this place.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Shippensburg University profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Bachelor's+ share: 100/100 (A+) · 75.0%
Cost of living: 50/100 (C-) · 97.6 index
How does Shippensburg University compare to other US cities?
Shippensburg University measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
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 Shippensburg University 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 Shippensburg University near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities
Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Shippensburg University ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Shippensburg University only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Poverty Rate
#1,474 of 1,856
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#32 of 1,861
98th 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.
Income distribution context
Median household income is not available for Shippensburg University in the current Census ACS release (common for very small places).
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)75.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,944
Median Income
N/A
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
19.7
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
60.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
75.0%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
29.1%
Carpool
6.1%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
43.6%
Work from Home
21.3%
Based on 640 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 Shippensburg University. 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 Shippensburg University 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 Shippensburg University sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Shippensburg University 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, 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.