Perry County, Pennsylvania Demographics
Population trends, housing costs, income, commuting, and health, all on one page.
Perry County, PA Population Density Map and Area Scores
Area Score
Health, income and education, each graded from F to A+. Explore interactive maps for deeper analysis.
-
B
Health Around averageLess healthy than 74% of counties in Pennsylvania
-
B
Income Around averageWealthier than 80% of counties in Pennsylvania
-
F
Education Well below averageLess educated than 88% of counties in Pennsylvania
Source: Map AI Methodology
Population: density and quick facts
| Metric | Perry County | Pennsylvania Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 46,229 | 13,004,688 | 337,468,954 |
| Population density (per sq mi) | 83.2 | 282.1 | 86.4 |
| Population growth (%/yr) | 0.16% | 0.21% | 0.59% |
| Median age | 42.2 | 41.6 | 37.3 |
| Households | 18,297 | 5,268,760 | 130,235,071 |
Population in Perry County grew by 2.6% from 2009 to 2024, reaching 46,229 in 2024.
Population Growth 2009–2024
Race & Ethnicity
Age & Sex
The largest generation in Perry County is Gen X, aged 45–60, at 23.4% of residents. That is 2.8 points above Pennsylvania as a whole.
- Gen Z 13–28 8,244 17.8% -2.3 pts
- Millennials 29–44 9,202 19.9% -1.1 pts
- Gen X 45–60 10,803 23.4% +2.8 pts
- Boomers 61–79 9,286 20.1% +1.1 pts
Residents by birth cohort, from the 2025 age distribution. The right-hand figure is how far each cohort's share sits above or below Pennsylvania, in percentage points. Children younger than Gen Z and the generations before the Boomers are counted in the population but not shown here, so these shares do not add up to 100%.
Male and female share
Women are 49.3% of the people living in Perry County and men 50.7%.
- Women 49.3% Pennsylvania 50.8%
- Men 50.7% Pennsylvania 49.2%
How many residents match a customer profile?
Residents matching this profile
100% of everyone living in Perry County
Pick an age range and a women/men split and the figure above answers with how many residents that profile reaches.
Economy
Perry County has a the economy index of B, which means it is quite prosperous.
| Metric | Perry County | Pennsylvania Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $79,736 | $78,249 | $80,455 |
| Income growth (%/yr) | 3.89% | 4.43% | 4.80% |
| Unemployment rate | 3.1% | 5.2% | 5.2% |
The median household income in Perry County is about 2% higher than in Pennsylvania.
Housing
| Metric | Perry County | Pennsylvania Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median home price | $98,577 | $152,469 | $248,835 |
| Median rent | $873 | $1,208 | $1,407 |
| Homeownership rate | 81.8% | 69.3% | 65.2% |
The median home price in Perry County is about 9.4 years' worth of rent — buying at the median price costs roughly as much as paying the median rent of $873 per month for that long.
Commute Time & Mobility
Commuters in Perry County spend about 64 minutes on the road round trip each working day. Over a typical 250-day work year, that adds up to roughly 267 hours, about 11.1 full days, spent commuting.
| Metric | Perry County | Pennsylvania Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| One-way commute (min) | 32.0 | 22.4 | 22.4 |
| Round-trip commute (min) | 64.0 | 44.7 | 44.8 |
| Yearly time spent (hours) | 267 | 186 | 187 |
| Estimated yearly cost | $8,262 | $5,779 | $5,790 |
| Work from home | 15.3% | 15.6% | 15.0% |
| Highway traffic (vehicles/day) | 6,514 | 6,862 | 8,813 |
| Local road traffic (vehicles/day) | 790 | 1,152 | 1,355 |
Fastest commutes among counties in
Pennsylvania:
Cameron County (11.4 min), Elk County (15.4 min), McKean County (15.9 min).
Slowest:
Pike County (32.5 min), Perry County (32.0 min), Carbon County (30.5 min).
The average commute time in Perry County is 32 minutes, longer than the 22 minutes in Pennsylvania.
Estimated yearly cost applies a single national wage rule of thumb (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics average hourly earnings), not a measurement of wages in this area. Traffic volume figures come from proprietary Ticon and TrafficZoom data.
Education & Households
Perry County has a education index of F, which means it scores poorly in education.
| Metric | Perry County | Pennsylvania Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor's degree or higher | 17.3% | 31.4% | 31.6% |
| Average household size | 2.50 | 2.39 | 2.53 |
Highest education index among counties in
Pennsylvania:
Chester County (0.4), Montgomery County (0.4), Allegheny County (0.4).
Lowest:
Forest County (0.1), Mifflin County (0.2), Juniata County (0.2).
Health
Perry County has a health index of B, which means it is quite healthy.
| Metric | Perry County | Pennsylvania Avg | U.S. Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy (years) | 77.2 | 78.4 | 78.3 |
| Self-rated poor health | 15.4% | 15.7% | 16.3% |
| Smokers | 21.9% | 20.1% | 19.0% |
Highest health index among counties in
Pennsylvania:
Montgomery County (0.8), Centre County (0.8), Chester County (0.8).
Lowest:
Forest County (0.8), Mifflin County (0.8), Jefferson County (0.8).
Perry County, PA Compared With Nearby Counties
Perry County, PA is typical in size for this group, 46,229 residents against a local median of 46,041, so the measures below are close to a like for like comparison. Where Perry County, PA breaks from the counties next to it is commute, sitting 70% above the local median of 18.8 min at 32.0 min. That is the weaker end of the local range on this measure.
Median home price tells the same story from another angle: $98,577 against a local median of $131,945, 25% below it. The picture is mixed rather than uniform: median household income runs ahead of the neighbourhood while commute runs behind it, so Perry County, PA is trading one against the other rather than simply out-performing what surrounds it. The counties themselves sit within 5.4 min of each other on commute, a tighter band than the gap between any of them and Perry County, PA, which makes it a genuine outlier here rather than one end of a wide local spread. Perry County, PA has the 6th lowest commute of the 6 areas compared here.
| Area | Population | Median household income | Median home price | Commute |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perry County, PA | 46,229 | $79,736 #2/6 | $98,577 #5/6 | 32.0 min #6/6 |
| Juniata County, PA | 23,379 | $67,134 | $175,893 | 23.5 min |
| Cumberland County, PA | 267,961 | $88,838 | $122,503 | 18.6 min |
| Mifflin County, PA | 46,041 | $65,055 | $163,841 | 18.8 min |
| Snyder County, PA | 39,662 | $67,239 | $48,253 | 18.0 min |
| Dauphin County, PA | 289,538 | $76,316 | $131,945 | 18.8 min |
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about Perry County, Pennsylvania.
How many people live in Perry County, Pennsylvania?
About 46,229 people live in Perry County, Pennsylvania, in 18,297 households of 2.5 people on average. The median age is 42.2, so residents are older than the U.S. median of 37.3 by about 5 years.
Is Perry County, Pennsylvania urban or rural?
Averaged over its land area, Perry County, Pennsylvania has 83 people per square mile, a density typical of rural areas. That is close to the U.S. average of 86.
Is Perry County, Pennsylvania an affordable place to live?
The median home costs 1.2 times the median household income ($98,577 against $79,736), compared with 3.1 times nationally. That is within the traditional rule of thumb of about 3 times income. Median rent of $873 a month takes about 13% of the median household's income, below the 30% level at which HUD considers renters cost-burdened.
Is it hard to find a job in Perry County, Pennsylvania?
Unemployment in Perry County, Pennsylvania is only 3.1%, well below the U.S. rate of 5.2%, a sign of a tight labor market where employers compete for workers.
How common is a college degree in Perry County, Pennsylvania?
17.3% of adults in Perry County, Pennsylvania hold a bachelor's degree or higher (about 1 in 6), well below the U.S. share of 31.6%.
Analyze any area in the US
Get local demographics for any address, aggregated by drive time or radius, on the interactive map.
Explore the map →