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Place dossier plate
SheetPA-WERNERSVILLE-PA · Wernersville, PA 2,767 pop · income 52nd 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 Wernersville
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Wernersville on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Weed · lowest
38,966
Weed · lowest
38,966 median HH income
23.9% of the leader · rank #1
Wernersville · this city
71,500
Wernersville · this city
71,500 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #2
Pecatonica · near
71,500
Pecatonica · near
71,500 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #3
Brooklyn · near
71,500
Brooklyn · near
71,500 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #4
Jamestown · near
71,500
Jamestown · near
71,500 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #5
Chinook · near
71,500
Chinook · near
71,500 median HH income
43.8% of the leader · rank #6
Bakerstown · highest
163,095
Bakerstown · highest
163,095 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 Wernersville 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: 2,767.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Wernersville places in the 52nd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
52nd
percentile, household income
48th
percentile, home value
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: Wernersville, PA
Wernersville is a small town in Pennsylvania, home to 2,767 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Median household income here is $71,500 per year, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 4.0%. Home values in Wernersville run a median of $218,100, and the median resident age is 45.1 years. 31.7% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 57.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 13 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Low Activity).
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. 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 Wernersville'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 population change to housing and income to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Wernersville, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, annual population history, local building permits.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Wernersville?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 78.8%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for Wernersville?
Within Pennsylvania, the closest population matches are Morton (2,768 residents, $54,881 income); Hallam (2,772 residents, $71,138 income); St. Clair (2,755 residents, $60,908 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Agua Dulce, CA (2,768 residents); Evansville, WY (2,766 residents); Weed, CA (2,765 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.
Is Wernersville 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 +65 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 13 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
How far does income reach against housing in Wernersville?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 4.0%, 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.
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 Wernersville?
The NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 31.7% 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 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.
Matched public schools
1
Bachelor's degree+
31.7%
Poverty estimate
4.0%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Above median income · poverty 4.0% (Below-median poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
97.6 (US=100)
Near national cost · BEA RPP 2024, Pennsylvania average
C
City profile score · Wernersville, PA
58/100
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.
Poverty rate B
4.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C+
31.7%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C-
$71,500
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.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Wernersville profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 72/100 (B) · 4.0%
Bachelor's+ share: 61/100 (C+) · 31.7%
Household income: 51/100 (C-) · $71,500
Cost of living: 50/100 (C-) · 97.6 index
How does Wernersville compare to other US cities?
Wernersville measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income52% higher than other cities
Home value48% pricier 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 Wernersville 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 Wernersville near the bottom of Pennsylvania's cities
Among the 1,865 Pennsylvania cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Wernersville ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Wernersville only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#750 of 1,765
57th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,865
0th percentile in Pennsylvania
Median Home Value
#529 of 1,790
70th percentile in Pennsylvania
Poverty Rate
#1,099 of 1,856
40th percentile in Pennsylvania
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#494 of 1,861
73rd 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
52nd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Wernersville's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$218,100Among the most affordablemore affordable than 52% 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
Wernersville's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#6,951 of 15,516
More affordable than 55% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#5,838 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 3.1×, Wernersville sits in the moderate band:
national rank #6,951 of 15,516 and #5,838 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
$71,500Wernersville, PA median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Wernersville, 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 Wernersville, PA.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)31.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)4.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
2,767
Median Income
$71,500
Median Home Value
$218,100
Median Age
45.1
Poverty Rate
4.0%
Labor force participation
57.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
31.7%
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Wernersville's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,766 residents
2021
2,764 residents
2022
2,764 residents
2023
2,781 residents
2024
2,800 residents
2025
2,831 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Low Activity
Total Permits (2024)
13
housing units authorized
Single-Family
13
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
4.7
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
1
1
0
$0.3M
2023
2
2
0
$0.3M
2024
13
13
0
$2.7M
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
78.8%
Carpool
7.0%
Public Transit
0.6%
Walk
1.0%
Work from Home
11.8%
Other
0.8%
Based on 1,244 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 Wernersville. 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 Wernersville 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 Wernersville sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Wernersville 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 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.