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Birdsboro, Pennsylvania

Birdsboro is a small town of about 5,200 people in Berks County, Pennsylvania. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.6 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Philadelphia, is about 40 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
5,161
up 1.2% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$224,000
Berks County prices up 24% since 2022
Household income
$86,290
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Reading area
97.1
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
9 miles
West Reading, PA
To Philadelphia
40 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 2.9% below the U.S. average in the Reading metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.6 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood1 violent crime was reported in 2025, about 0.2 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 1.7 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 2 elementary and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byReading Hospital in West Reading, about 9 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPhiladelphia is about 40 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Birdsboro meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$224,000U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 24%Berks County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$1,146 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$86,290U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
68%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$4,202 a yearPennsylvania: $3,311
Homes built before 1940
38%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
0%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
97.1U.S. average = 100 (the Reading metro area)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 24% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Reading metro area, not Birdsboro alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
5,1612020: 5,102
Median age
38.5 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
14%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
20%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
27%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
8%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Schools, health care and social services (22%); manufacturing (19%); retail (13%)
Unemployment rate
2%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
28 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
12%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
18%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Reading Hospital, West Reading, PA, about 9 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

3 public schools in Birdsboro, run by Daniel Boone Area SD and Twin Valley SD.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Pennsylvania's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
79%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
93%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
20°F
July average high
85°F
Days 90°F or hotter
12 a year
Nights at or below freezing
121 a year
Rain and melted snow
51.9 inches a year
Snow
27 inches a year
Elevation
241 feet

Weather stations: Hopewell Morgantown (8 miles away) and Reading 3.5 SW (10 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Reading Hospital, Reading, Philadelphia.

Berks County is in a metro area of 250,000 to 1 million people (USDA rural-urban code 2, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site4 miles
  • Valley Forge National Historical Park21 miles
  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail23 miles
  • First State National Historical Park31 miles
  • Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site41 miles

Read about Birdsboro's history on Wikipedia.

Know Birdsboro?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Baumstown, PA (unincorporated)221 people, 1 mile
  • Gibraltar, PA (unincorporated)398 people, 3 miles
  • Douglassville, PA (unincorporated)279 people, 5 miles
  • Flying Hills, PA (unincorporated)1,738 people, 6 miles
  • Stony Creek Mills, PA (unincorporated)1,081 people, 7 miles
  • Grill, PA (unincorporated)1,903 people, 7 miles
  • South Pottstown, PA (unincorporated)1,893 people, 8 miles
  • Morgantown, PA (unincorporated)1,381 people, 9 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.