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Gold Key Lake, Pennsylvania

Gold Key Lake is an unincorporated community of about 2,600 people in Pike County, Pennsylvania. It has no city government of its own: local services come from the county, or in some states from the town or township. A typical home costs about 2.4 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, New York, is about 69 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,563
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$233,400
Pike County prices up 19% since 2022
Household income
$99,125
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Pennsylvania
90.3
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
14 miles
Port Jervis, NY
To New York
69 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 9.7% below the U.S. average in the parts of Pennsylvania outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.4 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI doesn't publish crime figures for unincorporated communities. Call the county sheriff's office (or the town or township police, where there is one) and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in townNo public schools inside the town. The nearest high school is East Stroudsburg Shs North, about 10 miles away.
  • A hospital close byBon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis, about 14 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityNew York is about 69 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 Gold Key Lake 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
$233,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 19%Pike County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$99,125U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
88%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$3,487 a yearPennsylvania: $3,311
Homes built before 1940
6%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
9%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
11%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
90.3U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Pennsylvania outside metro areas)

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 19% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Pennsylvania outside metro areas, not Gold Key Lake 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, 2020-2024 Census survey
2,563The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
43.2 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
17%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
24%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
26%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
3%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
Manufacturing (15%); finance, insurance and real estate (12%)
Work from home
16%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
9%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Bon Secours Community Hospital, Port Jervis, NY, about 14 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 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

There are no public schools inside Gold Key Lake itself. The nearest public high school is East Stroudsburg Shs North, about 10 miles away.

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
85%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
94%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
18°F
July average high
82°F
Days 90°F or hotter
7 a year
Nights at or below freezing
132 a year
Rain and melted snow
45.1 inches a year
Snow
47 inches a year
Elevation
1,318 feet

Weather stations: Sussex 8 NNW (16 miles away) and Hawley 1 E (16 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: Bon Secours Community Hospital, Scranton, New York.

Pike County is outside any metro area, with 5,000 to 20,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 6, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area4 miles
  • Middle Delaware National Scenic River6 miles
  • Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River9 miles
  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail12 miles
  • Steamtown National Historic Site37 miles

Read about Gold Key Lake's history on Wikipedia.

Know Gold Key Lake?

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

  • Sunrise Lake, PA (unincorporated)1,126 people, 1 mile
  • Conashaugh Lakes, PA (unincorporated)1,538 people, 3 miles
  • Birchwood Lakes, PA (unincorporated)1,399 people, 5 miles
  • Layton, NJ (unincorporated)967 people, 9 miles
  • Pocono Ranch Lands, PA (unincorporated)1,187 people, 10 miles
  • Pocono Mountain Lake Estates, PA (unincorporated)700 people, 11 miles
  • Barryville, NY (unincorporated)461 people, 12 miles
  • Sparrow Bush, NY (unincorporated)1,119 people, 14 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.