Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Pennsylvania

Lansford, Pennsylvania

Lansford is a small town of about 4,100 people in Carbon County, Pennsylvania. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 1.2 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 69 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
4,123
down 0.4% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$55,800
Carbon County prices up 29% since 2022
Household income
$44,713
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Allentown area
100
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
9 miles
Lehighton, PA
To Philadelphia
69 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices match the U.S. average in the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 1.2 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood25 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 6 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 4.1 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town2 public schools: 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close bySt. Luke's Hospital - Carbon Campus in Lehighton, about 9 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPhiladelphia 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 Lansford 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
$55,800U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 29%Carbon County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$922 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$44,713U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
52%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,311 a yearPennsylvania: $3,311
Homes built before 1940
63%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
1%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
100U.S. average = 100 (the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton 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 29% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton metro area, not Lansford 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
4,1232020: 4,138
Median age
37.9 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
13%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
9%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 (20%); manufacturing (20%); professional and business services (16%)
Average commute
44 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
9%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
24%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: St. Luke's Hospital - Carbon Campus, Lehighton, PA, about 9 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 5 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

2 public schools in Lansford, run by Panther 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
72%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
88%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
19°F
July average high
82°F
Days 90°F or hotter
4 a year
Nights at or below freezing
132 a year
Rain and melted snow
52.4 inches a year
Snow
42 inches a year
Elevation
1,078 feet

Weather stations: Lehighton 1SSW (10 miles away) and Tamaqua 4 N Dam (6 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: St. Luke's Hospital - Carbon Campus, Allentown, Philadelphia.

Carbon 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

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Lansford Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Appalachian National Scenic Trail9 miles
  • Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area33 miles
  • Middle Delaware National Scenic River40 miles
  • Steamtown National Historic Site41 miles
  • Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site43 miles

Read about Lansford's history on Wikipedia.

Know Lansford?

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

  • Hometown, PA (unincorporated)1,283 people, 5 miles
  • Beaver Meadows, PA889 people, 7 miles
  • Tresckow, PA (unincorporated)696 people, 7 miles
  • Kelayres, PA (unincorporated)413 people, 8 miles
  • Grier City, PA (unincorporated)167 people, 9 miles
  • Tuscarora, PA (unincorporated)452 people, 9 miles
  • Park Crest, PA (unincorporated)645 people, 9 miles
  • Delano, PA (unincorporated)148 people, 10 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.