City safety & data profile

State CollegePA

State College, PA is a 42K-resident city in Centre County with a median household income of $45,424.

Centre County, Pennsylvania. Federal health, economic, and safety indicators for State College, drawn from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey, CDC PLACES, and CMS Hospital Compare. State College has a population larger than 75% of the 4,640 U.S. cities Areazine tracks, a median home value of $437,800, and 1 hospital serving the surrounding area.

Data updated 2026-09-04

42K
Population (place)
Top 25%
By size
$45,424
Median income (place)
$437,800
Median home (place)
38.1%
Poverty rate (place)
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The read on State College

State College posts a median household income higher than 5% of U.S. cities Areazine tracks, where 1 hospital serves the State College area.

Bottom 6%
by median income, US cities
1
hospital in & near State College

Where State College income ranks nationally

Median household income vs. every place Areazine profiles (place-level ACS)

$45,424 Bottom 5% higher than 5% of 3,889 places Areazine profiles

State College $0 $260,000 every profiled place, bucketed by value

Each bar is a $20K-wide band; taller bars hold more places Areazine profiles. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) · 2024 ACS 5-year

Largest cities in PA

Population among 88 PA places with 10,000+ residents and ACS income on Areazine. Tooltip shows the income rank in the same pool.

residents

What this shows Philadelphia is the largest PA city on this list; Franklin Park leads median income.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

Highest median incomes in PA

Median household income among the same 88-city pool. Tooltip shows the population rank.

median

What this shows Franklin Park posts the highest place-level median income in PA; Philadelphia is largest by headcount.

Source U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (place-level) As of 2024 ACS 5-year

The quick read

Reading State College, PA beyond the headline numbers

State College sits inside Centre County, Pennsylvania, at roughly 40.79°N, -77.86°W. Population 42,161, $45,424 median household income. Median home value $437,800, median rent $1,273. Poverty rate 38.1%, read against that income figure since two cities on the same median can differ underneath it.

1 hospital in/around State College, 5/5 avg rating, 1 with an ER.

38.1% of State College, PA residents live below the poverty line, placing it in the hardest-hit quarter of reporting cities. Read every median on this page against that: half the households are above it, and a large minority are far below.

The median home in State College costs around 9.6 times what a median household earns in a year -- the most expensive quarter of reporting cities, and far enough ahead of local pay that ownership is largely closed to median earners.

15.3% of State College workers are remote, above the midpoint of reporting cities.

6.4% of State College workers commute by public transit, a larger share than at least three quarters of reporting cities.

State College's median age is 21.2 years, in the youngest quarter of reporting cities.

Sources: U.S. Census ACS, CDC PLACES, CMS Hospital Compare, plus live alerts for State College from FEMA, NOAA, FDA, and CPSC. Economic comparison bars use the unweighted average across tracked Census places with a reported value, not a household-weighted national median.

Population (place)
42,161
State College · Census Place
Median Income (place)
$45,424
-49% vs avg
Median Home Value (place)
$437,800
+6% vs avg
Median Age (place)
21.2
years · ACS place

10-Year Trends 2013–2024

County-level trend (Centre County): State College's own historical series isn't separately published by the Census Bureau, so these year-over-year figures track the surrounding county, not the city alone.

20132024
Population
159K+3%
Median Income
$74,291+48%
Median Home Value
$323,500+68%
Poverty Rate
16.3%-20%
Unemployment
4.2%-28%

Economics

Economics indicators for State College, PA
IndicatorValue
Median Rent
$1,273/mo
Poverty Rate
38.1% +207% vs avg
Unemployment 5%
Bachelor's Degree+ 68.4%
Work From Home 15.3%
Public Transit 6.4%

Population

White 78.5%
African American 3.9%
Asian 9.4%
Two or More Ethnicities 2.1%

Health Profile 2 measures

Health Indicators

Short Sleep Duration
37.5%

Preventive Care

Dental Visit 53.5%

Hospitals 1 total

Rating Distribution
★★★★★
1
★★★★
0
★★★
0
★★
0
★
0
Average Rating
5/5
Total Hospitals
1
With ER
1
MOUNT NITTANY MEDICAL CENTER
STATE COLLEGE · Acute Care Hospitals · ER
★★★★★

What alerts and safety updates affect State College?

No area-tagged alerts are on record for State College right now. New federal and counterpart-agency notices still land in the site feed as agencies publish them.

City alert dispatch desk

Sheet PA-STATE-COLLEGE · State College

State College: no area-tagged alerts on record — state hubs carry the live CAP stream.

  • FEED-QUIET No tagged alerts
  • LEAD-NONE Feed idle
  • DESK-IDLE Awaiting feed

Counts reflect published articles tagged to State College; untagged NOAA county warnings may still appear in the site feed. Browse Pennsylvania state hubs · Methodology

Read with this city profile

Tracking Safety Alerts in Your Area

How Areazine tags State College in the CAP feed
All safety guides →

Frequently Asked Questions 6

What is the population of State College, PA? ▼
State College, PA has a population of 42,161 people, located in Centre County, Pennsylvania.
What is the median household income in State College? ▼
The median household income in State College, PA is $45,424 per year, per the U.S. Census ACS. The poverty rate is 38.1%.
What is the median home value in State College? ▼
The median home value in State College, PA is $437,800. Median rent is $1,273/month.
What are the top health concerns in State College? ▼
The top health indicators in State College include Short Sleep Duration (37.5%). Data from CDC PLACES.
How many hospitals are in State College? ▼
State College has 1 hospital with an average rating of 5/5 stars. 1 have emergency departments.
What is the median age in State College? ▼
The median age in State College, PA is 21.2 years. 68.4% of residents have a bachelor's degree or higher.

Nationwide cities with similar poverty or income 8

Two ACS-derived peer sets for State College, both outside Pennsylvania so the neighborhoods are not the geographic nearby list below.

Similar poverty rate

Nearest place-level ACS poverty rates outside PA (38.1% here).

Forrest City, AR 37.7% Kiryas Joel, NY 37.6% Carbondale, IL 37.4% Opelousas, LA 37.4%

Similar median income

Nearest place-level ACS median household incomes outside PA ($45,424 here).

Bainbridge, GA $45,422 Richmond, IN $45,399 Dentsville, SC $45,473 Escanaba, MI $45,369

Compare State College with another city

Pick a second U.S. city to open a side-by-side profile on population, income, health, and hospitals, the same federal datasets as this page.

Quick picks:

Nearby Cities 8

Altoona, PA 45K Chambersburg, PA 21K Carlisle, PA 19K Saint Marys, PA 13K Williamsport, PA 29K Waynesboro, PA 11K Harrisburg, PA 50K Johnstown, PA 20K
All cities in Pennsylvania → Compare State College vs Altoona → All comparisons → Browse all cities

Using State College's profile

Use this as a starting research checklist, not a verdict on whether to live here.

  • Check live recalls, weather and hazard alerts scoped to the State College area before relying on national headlines. Check your area
  • Read the poverty rate alongside the income figure, two places with the same median can have very different realities.
  • Compare State College against Pennsylvania peers on any ranking lens. Explore Pennsylvania

Population and economics (income, home value, poverty, education) are place-level U.S. Census ACS; health is CDC PLACES; hospital counts reflect facilities in and around the city. County-level trends are labeled when shown.

Data Sources

All data on this page comes from official U.S. government sources. Population and economic data from the Census Bureau American Community Survey (2024 5-year estimates, place geography). Health data from the CDC PLACES program (2023). Hospital ratings from CMS Hospital Compare (2024). Climate data from NOAA. Education data from NCES. Cost of living from Bureau of Economic Analysis. Crime statistics, where referenced on Areazine, originate from the FBI Crime Data Explorer. Housing market figures referenced on Areazine come from HUD Fair Market Rents. Census economics and population are at place geography; some health and hospital indicators are reported at the county level (Centre County) where that is the smallest published unit.

Every figure on Areazine is published directly from official U.S. government sources, no number is typed in by an editor. City demographic and health figures are compiled directly from U.S. Census (place-level ACS), CDC, and CMS releases, updated quarterly within 30 days of upstream release. County-level trends are labeled when shown. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.