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Towns / Pennsylvania

New Hope, Pennsylvania

New Hope is a small town of about 2,600 people in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 4.1 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 26 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,629
up 0.5% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$716,200
Bucks County prices up 21% since 2022
Household income
$175,156
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Philadelphia area
102.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
9 miles
Pennington, NJ
To Philadelphia
26 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 2.6% above the U.S. average in the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 4.1 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 0.4 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 4.5 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byCapital Health Medical Center - Hopewell in Pennington, about 9 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPhiladelphia is about 26 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 New Hope 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
$716,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 21%Bucks County, 2022 to 2025
Typical household income
$175,156U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
71%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$5,920 a yearPennsylvania: $3,311
Homes built before 1940
21%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
8%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
1%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
102.6U.S. average = 100 (the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington 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 21% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area, not New Hope 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
2,6292020: 2,616
Median age
58.1 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
25%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
13%U.S.: 22%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
8%U.S.: 6%
College students
5%share of all residents

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 (24%); professional and business services (18%); finance, insurance and real estate (17%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
35 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Below the poverty line
4%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Capital Health Medical Center - Hopewell, Pennington, NJ, about 9 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

3 public schools in New Hope, run by New Hope-Solebury 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
91%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
96%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
88°F
Days 90°F or hotter
30 a year
Nights at or below freezing
136 a year
Rain and melted snow
50.4 inches a year
Snow
13 inches a year
Elevation
185 feet

Weather station: Lambertville (1 mile away). 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: Capital Health Medical Center - Hopewell, Trenton, Philadelphia.

Bucks County is in a metro area of 1 million people or more (USDA rural-urban code 1, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

10 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including Honey Hollow Watershed, the New Hope Village District and the Springdale Historic District. One is a National Historic Landmark, the country's highest honor for a historic place.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site29 miles
  • Valley Forge National Historical Park30 miles
  • Independence National Historical Park30 miles
  • Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial30 miles
  • Morristown National Historical Park33 miles

Read about New Hope's history on Wikipedia.

Know New Hope?

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

  • Stockton, NJ497 people, 3 miles
  • Titusville, NJ (unincorporated)501 people, 6 miles
  • Ringoes, NJ (unincorporated)934 people, 7 miles
  • Washington Crossing, NJ (unincorporated)536 people, 7 miles
  • Woodside, PA (unincorporated)2,491 people, 10 miles
  • Ivyland, PA943 people, 12 miles
  • Skillman, NJ (unincorporated)345 people, 14 miles
  • Three Bridges, NJ (unincorporated)630 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.