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Towns / Pennsylvania

Wayne, Pennsylvania

Wayne is an unincorporated community of about 6,600 people in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, in the Philadelphia area. 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 4.7 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 14 miles away as the crow flies.

Suburb of Philadelphia

Population
6,635
Census survey, 2020-24
Typical home, 2020-24
$713,300
Delaware County prices up 22% since 2022
Household income
$150,539
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Philadelphia area
102.6
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
4 miles
Bryn Mawr, PA
To Philadelphia
14 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 4.7 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 town6 public schools: 4 elementary and 2 middle. No public high school in town: the nearest is Radnor Shs, about 2 miles away.
  • A hospital close byBryn Mawr Hospital in Bryn Mawr, about 4 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityPhiladelphia is about 14 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 Wayne 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.

What kind of town

A suburb, not a stand-alone small town

Wayne runs into the built-up area around Philadelphia (Census Bureau, 2020 urban areas). We include suburbs under 20,000 people because some still feel like small towns, but daily life here is closer to the suburbs than to the towns Frank and Dave's book describes. Weigh it against towns farther out.

The book sorts small towns into six types. These labels come only from the numbers; take the quiz to see which type fits your family.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$713,300U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 22%Delaware County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$2,022 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$150,539U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
66%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$8,842 a yearPennsylvania: $3,311
Homes built before 1940
28%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
1%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
4%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 22% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington metro area, not Wayne 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
6,635The Census Bureau makes yearly estimates only for incorporated towns
Median age
46.2 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
17%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
22%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
71%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
7%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
Professional and business services (21%); schools, health care and social services (20%); finance, insurance and real estate (16%)
Unemployment rate
9%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
28 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
23%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: Bryn Mawr Hospital, Bryn Mawr, PA, about 4 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

6 public schools in Wayne, run by Tredyffrin-Easttown SD and Radnor Township SD. The nearest public high school is Radnor Shs, about 2 miles away.

Colleges in or next to town: Eastern University (5,000 to 9,999 students); Valley Forge Military College (under 1,000 students).

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
86%U.S.: 76%

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
23°F
July average high
89°F
Days 90°F or hotter
39 a year
Nights at or below freezing
107 a year
Rain and melted snow
49.7 inches a year
Snow
8 inches a year
Elevation
461 feet

Weather stations: Norristown (6 miles away) and Conshohocken (5 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: Bryn Mawr Hospital, Philadelphia.

Delaware 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

7 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including the Downtown Wayne Historic District, the North Wayne Historic District and the South Wayne Historic District.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Valley Forge National Historical Park4 miles
  • Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site14 miles
  • Independence National Historical Park14 miles
  • Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial15 miles
  • First State National Historical Park16 miles

Campus life. Check Eastern University's events calendar for games, concerts and plays open to the public.

Read about Wayne's history on Wikipedia.

Know Wayne?

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

  • Devon, PA (unincorporated)1,806 people, 2 miles
  • Swedeland, PA (unincorporated)1,630 people, 5 miles
  • Haverford College, PA (unincorporated)1,695 people, 5 miles
  • Swedesburg, PA (unincorporated)806 people, 5 miles
  • Oaks, PA (unincorporated)943 people, 7 miles
  • Mont Clare, PA (unincorporated)2,313 people, 9 miles
  • Rutledge, PA779 people, 10 miles
  • Cheyney University, PA (unincorporated)308 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.