Clarks Summit, Economy, Franklin Park: These cities aren’t just some of the best places to live in Pennsylvania. They are also home to some of the richest people in the Keystone State.
Clarks Summit in particular houses the richest residents in the state thanks, in part, to a median household income of $74,304 and a ridiculously low poverty rate of 2.2%.
If you’re thinking of moving to one of these towns, you’ll probably need to start saving. The richest places in Pennsylvania share common characteristics such as having a genius level populous, sky high home prices, and a Pleasantville level of married couples.
How did we come up with these mega wealthy cities? We analyzed Census data from the 2012-2016 American Community Survey for the 190 places in Pennsylvania with more than 5,000 people.
At the end of the day, here’s the set of the 10 richest places in Pennsylvania for 2018:
- Clarks Summit (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Economy (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Franklin Park (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Jefferson Hills (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Collegeville (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Doyle (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Plum (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Swarthmore (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Oakmont (Photos | Homes For Sale)
- Wyomissing (Photos | Homes For Sale)
For more on how we calculated the top ten, read on or skip to the end for the full list of the richest cities in Pennsylvania.
Rich people not your cup of tea? Feel free to check out the best places to live in Pennsylvania or the poorest.
How We Determined The Richest Places In Pennsylvania For 2018
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the richest places is to simply identify personal incomes. After all, rich people have really high salaries.
However, we don’t believe that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “richest places”. So we looked at this set of criteria from the newly released 2012-2016 American Community Survey:
- Poverty Level
- Median Household Income
- Unemployment Rate
Median household income is the most digestible way to understand how rich a place really is. The unemployment rate tries to capture the prospects for more people to become rich. If more people are employed, the richer the future looks.
After we collected the data for all 190 places with more than 5,000 people in Pennsylvania, we ranked each place from 1 to 190 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the richest.
We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Rich Score” with the place having the lowest overall Rich Score, Clarks Summit, crowned the “Richest Place In Pennsylvania For 2018”.
You can learn more about the top ten below or skip to the end to see the rankings for all 190 places.
1. Clarks Summit
Population: 5,041Median Income: $74,304
Unemployment Rate: 0.9%
Poverty Rate: 2.2%
More on Clarks Summit: Homes For Sale | Data
Clarks Summit is a borough in Lackawanna County northwest of Scranton in northeastern Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 5,116 at the 2010 census. It is also the northern terminus of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Northeast Extension, I-476.
2. Economy
Population: 9,240Median Income: $78,578
Unemployment Rate: 3.6%
Poverty Rate: 3.8%
More on Economy: Homes For Sale | Data
Economy is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 8,970 at the 2010 census.
3. Franklin Park
Population: 14,228Median Income: $121,661
Unemployment Rate: 4.6%
Poverty Rate: 1.5%
More on Franklin Park: Homes For Sale | Data
Franklin Park is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,470 at the 2010 census.
4. Jefferson Hills
Population: 11,214Median Income: $79,615
Unemployment Rate: 4.3%
Poverty Rate: 3.3%
More on Jefferson Hills: Homes For Sale | Data
Jefferson Hills is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. It includes the community of Large. In the 2010 census the population was 10,619. Jefferson Hills was created as Jefferson Township, incorporating on January 22, 1828, and named after Thomas Jefferson. The borough is a part of West Jefferson Hills School District. Before 1998, the borough was known as Jefferson.
5. Collegeville
Population: 5,279Median Income: $105,761
Unemployment Rate: 4.7%
Poverty Rate: 1.5%
More on Collegeville: Homes For Sale | Data
Collegeville, sometimes referred to as “Little Philly” is a borough in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia on the Perkiomen Creek. Collegeville was incorporated in 1896. It is the location of Ursinus College, opened in 1869. The population was 5,089 at the 2010 census.
6. Doyle
Population: 8,305Median Income: $73,185
Unemployment Rate: 3.2%
Poverty Rate: 5.7%
More on Doyle: Homes For Sale | Data
7. Plum
Population: 27,474Median Income: $71,204
Unemployment Rate: 4.6%
Poverty Rate: 4.6%
More on Plum: Homes For Sale | Data
Plum is a borough in Allegheny County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. A suburb of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, it is located northeast of the city of Pittsburgh, in what is commonly referred to as the East Hills suburbs. The population was 27,126 at the 2010 census.
8. Swarthmore
Population: 6,218Median Income: $92,292
Unemployment Rate: 5.0%
Poverty Rate: 2.1%
More on Swarthmore: Homes For Sale | Data
Swarthmore (pronounced /sw.mr/ SWAHTH-mor locally, or /swr.mr/ SWAWRTH-mor) is a borough in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Swarthmore was originally named “Westdale” in honor of noted painter Benjamin West, who was one of the early residents of the town. The name was changed to “Swarthmore” after the establishment of Swarthmore College. “Swarthmore” can be pronounced with the first “r” either vocalized or dropped due to differences in rhotic and non-rhotic accents, but locally it is usually pronounced without the first “r” (i.e. SWAHTH-mor). The borough population was 6,194 as of the 2010 census.
9. Oakmont
Population: 6,420Median Income: $61,523
Unemployment Rate: 3.8%
Poverty Rate: 6.1%
More on Oakmont: Homes For Sale | Data
10. Wyomissing
Population: 10,442Median Income: $74,891
Unemployment Rate: 4.7%
Poverty Rate: 6.6%
More on Wyomissing: Homes For Sale | Data
Wyomissing is a borough in Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States, established on July 2, 1906. As of the 2010 census, the population was 10,461, compared to 8,587 at the 2000 census. The population growth of the borough was largely due to its merger in January 2002 with neighboring Wyomissing Hills. Wyomissing is the most populous borough in Berks County. The borough is recognized as a Tree City USA and selected as a “Contender” for the best places to live in Pennsylvania by Money magazine.
There You Have It – The Wealthiest Places In Pennsylvania For 2018
Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the richest places in Pennsylvania, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Pennsylvania.
When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very top of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.
If you’re curious enough, here are the poorest cities in Pennsylvania, according to data:
Poorest: Duquesne
2nd Poorest: Johnstown
3rd Poorest: Chester
For more Pennsylvania reading, check out:
Detailed List Of The Richest Cities In Pennsylvania
| Rank | City | RichScore |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clarks Summit | 4.67 |
| 2 | Economy | 8.33 |
| 3 | Franklin Park | 9.17 |
| 4 | Jefferson Hills | 9.5 |
| 5 | Collegeville | 11.17 |
| 6 | Doyle | 11.5 |
| 7 | Plum | 14.67 |
| 8 | Swarthmore | 15.0 |
| 9 | Oakmont | 19.5 |
| 10 | Wyomissing | 19.67 |
| 11 | Camp Hill | 20.83 |
| 12 | Souderton | 22.5 |
| 13 | Hollidaysburg | 24.0 |
| 14 | Forest Hills | 24.33 |
| 15 | White Oak | 24.67 |
| 16 | Lititz | 26.83 |
| 17 | Emmaus | 26.83 |
| 18 | Perkasie | 28.0 |
| 19 | Crafton | 28.0 |
| 20 | Dormont | 30.67 |
| 21 | Glenolden | 31.5 |
| 22 | Mechanicsburg | 32.33 |
| 23 | New Holland | 34.5 |
| 24 | Baldwin | 34.67 |
| 25 | St. Marys | 34.67 |
| 26 | Conshohocken | 34.83 |
| 27 | West View | 35.17 |
| 28 | Elizabet | 40.67 |
| 29 | Downin | 40.83 |
| 30 | Hermitage | 42.33 |
| 31 | Sharon Hill | 44.0 |
| 32 | Whitehall | 44.5 |
| 33 | Bellefonte | 44.67 |
| 34 | Kennett Square | 45.33 |
| 35 | Moosic | 46.67 |
| 36 | Pleasant Hills | 47.17 |
| 37 | New Cumberland | 47.33 |
| 38 | Lower Burrell | 47.33 |
| 39 | Phoenixville | 47.83 |
| 40 | Norwood | 48.17 |
| 41 | Palmerton | 48.5 |
| 42 | Northampton | 49.17 |
| 43 | Brookhaven | 50.5 |
| 44 | Fox Chapel | 50.67 |
| 45 | Ridley Park | 51.0 |
| 46 | Lansdale | 51.33 |
| 47 | Helle | 52.67 |
| 48 | Grove City | 53.0 |
| 49 | Palmyra | 53.83 |
| 50 | Brentwood | 55.83 |
| 51 | Mount Joy | 55.83 |
| 52 | Hatboro | 56.17 |
| 53 | Shillington | 57.17 |
| 54 | Schuylkill Haven | 59.5 |
| 55 | Catasauqua | 59.67 |
| 56 | Sayre | 60.0 |
| 57 | Media | 60.17 |
| 58 | Castle Shannon | 61.17 |
| 59 | Prospect Park | 62.67 |
| 60 | Archbald | 63.5 |
| 61 | Ephrata | 63.5 |
| 62 | Birdsboro | 64.17 |
| 63 | Quake | 64.17 |
| 64 | Folcroft | 66.67 |
| 65 | Bridgeville | 68.0 |
| 66 | Canonsburg | 68.0 |
| 67 | Selinsgrove | 69.0 |
| 68 | Lansdowne | 69.33 |
| 69 | Morrisville | 70.0 |
| 70 | Red Lion | 72.0 |
| 71 | South Williamsport | 72.0 |
| 72 | Ambler | 72.83 |
| 73 | Monaca | 73.0 |
| 74 | Kingston | 73.67 |
| 75 | Jeannette | 74.0 |
| 76 | Olyphant | 75.17 |
| 77 | Munhall | 78.5 |
| 78 | Hanover | 78.5 |
| 79 | Wilson | 78.67 |
| 80 | Bristol | 79.17 |
| 81 | Nazareth | 80.33 |
| 82 | Clifton Heights | 82.17 |
| 83 | Bethlehem | 82.67 |
| 84 | Exeter | 82.83 |
| 85 | Corry | 83.5 |
| 86 | Bellevue | 84.0 |
| 87 | West Mifflin | 85.33 |
| 88 | Dunmore | 86.5 |
| 89 | Middl | 90.33 |
| 90 | Warren | 92.0 |
| 91 | Old Forge | 92.0 |
| 92 | Lewisburg | 92.67 |
| 93 | Blakely | 94.33 |
| 94 | Kut | 95.0 |
| 95 | Dickson City | 95.17 |
| 96 | Yeadon | 96.33 |
| 97 | Lehighton | 96.5 |
| 98 | Ellwood City | 98.17 |
| 99 | Carnegie | 98.83 |
| 100 | Oxford | 100.0 |
This is kind of a pointless list. The most affluent area in all of Pennsylvania – Philadelphia’s Main Line Suburbs – is not even represented, I assume due to your definition of “place”. Gladwynne, Villanova, Radnor, Devon… All of these places are far more affluent than any on your list.