county

Perry County, PA

Demographic and economic profile of Perry County, PA, sourced from the US Census Bureau (American Community Survey) via Data USA.

AI Overview

Perry County is a small rural county of roughly 46,000 residents with a workforce characterized by modest educational attainment—18.6% hold a bachelor's degree or higher—and relatively low labor costs, with median worker earnings of $46,268 and an unemployment rate of 3.2%. Housing is accessible, with a median home value of $222,800, median gross rent of $838/month, and an 81.8% homeownership rate, while the poverty rate sits at a low 8.0%. Population growth has been essentially flat at +0.1% over five years, and a mean commute of 32 minutes suggests many residents work outside the county, consistent with its position adjacent to the Harrisburg metro area.

Claude Sonnet 4.6 · generated Jul 6, 2026 · derived from cached Census, BEA & ACS data on this page

Population

45,988

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Household Income

$79,444

Data USA · as of 2024

Median Age

43.8 yrs

Data USA · as of 2024

Population Growth (5-year)

+0.1% since 2018

Perry County added population at this rate over the prior 5-year ACS5 window.

Demographics

Race & Ethnicity

  • White Alone43,464 (94.0%)
  • Two Races Including Some Other Race950 (2.1%)
  • Two Races Excluding Some Other Race, & Three or More Races935 (2.0%)
  • Black or African American Alone369 (0.8%)
  • Some Other Race Alone337 (0.7%)
  • Asian Alone145 (0.3%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Languages Spoken at Home

  1. 1.German or other West Germanic1,666
  2. 2.Spanish596
  3. 3.Other Indo-European93
  4. 4.Russian, Polish, or other Slavic92
  5. 5.Other Asian and Pacific Island56

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population Under 18

21.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Working-Age (18–64)

59.1%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Population 65 and Over

19.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Foreign-Born Population

1.7%

Data USA · as of 2024

Veterans

2,901

Data USA · as of 2024

Economy

GDP per Capita

$21,788

Data USA · as of 2023

Cost of Living Index

Not yet cached

Per Capita Income

$38,594

Census ACS · as of 2023

Unemployment Rate

3.2%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Poverty Rate

8.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Top Industries

  1. 1.Educational Services, & Health Care & Social Assistance4,386
  2. 2.Retail Trade (Group)2,621
  3. 3.Construction (Group)2,573
  4. 4.Transportation & Warehousing, & Utilities2,115
  5. 5.Manufacturing (Group)1,869

Data USA · as of 2024

Top Occupations

  1. 1.Management, Business, Science, & Arts Occupations7,428
  2. 2.Sales & Office Occupations4,602
  3. 3.Production, Transportation, & Material Moving Occupations4,048
  4. 4.Natural Resources, Construction, & Maintenance Occupations3,308
  5. 5.Service Occupations2,988

Data USA · as of 2024

Specialized Industries (Location Quotient)

  1. 1.Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting, & Mining (LQ 1.94×)693
  2. 2.Public Administration (LQ 1.73×)1,831
  3. 3.Construction (LQ 1.66×)2,568
  4. 4.Transportation, Warehousing, & Utilities (LQ 1.60×)2,091
  5. 5.Finance, Insurance, & Real Estate (LQ 1.19×)1,782

Census ACS · as of 2023

Housing

Median Home Value

$222,800

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Gross Rent

$838/mo

Census ACS · as of 2023

Homeownership Rate

81.8%

Data USA · as of 2024

Home Value Distribution

  • $200,000 to $249,9992,588 (17.3%)
  • $300,000 to $399,9992,501 (16.7%)
  • $250,000 to $299,9991,965 (13.1%)
  • $150,000 to $174,9991,499 (10.0%)
  • $175,000 to $199,9991,257 (8.4%)
  • $400,000 to $499,9991,025 (6.8%)

Data USA · as of 2024

Education

Bachelor's Degree or Higher

18.6%

Census ACS · as of 2023

High School Diploma or Higher

89.9%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Workforce

Labor Force Participation

62.0%

Census ACS · as of 2023

Median Worker Earnings

$46,268

Census ACS · as of 2023

Mean Commute Time

32.0 min

Data USA · as of 2024

Households Without a Vehicle

5.5%

Census ACS · as of 2023

How People Get to Work

  • Drove Alone16,659 (74.9%)
  • Worked At Home3,404 (15.3%)
  • Carpooled1,568 (7.1%)
  • Walked338 (1.5%)
  • Other155 (0.7%)
  • Public Transit51 (0.2%)

Data USA · as of 2024

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More on FDI Connect

Compare Perry County against other US geographies, save it to your shortlist, see active property listings on the interactive map, and unlock the full demographic dashboard.

Data: US Census Bureau American Community Survey, served via Data USA and the Census Bureau API. See each metric tile for the specific dataset.