While big cities like Allentown offer culture, cuisine, and charisma, they also deliver terrible traffic, towering expenses, and a taxing quality of life.
With that in mind, we wanted to uncover the best suburbs around Allentown. These burbs have all of the benefits of being near Allentown without actually having to be in the city.
Of course, not all suburbs of Allentown are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. Using Saturday Night Science, we delve into the factors that matter most, from commutes and housing costs to community vibes, to help you uncover the perfect suburban spots in the Greater Allentown area.
Here are the 10 best suburbs to live around Allentown for 2023:
What’s the best suburb of Allentown? North Wales ranks as the best suburb of Allentown for 2023 based on the most recent Census and FBI data. If you happen to be a resident of North Wales, you’re probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.
We’ll tell you what makes each of these 10 Allentown ‘burbs better than the rest–but first, a bit about our methodology.
Feel free to check out some more reading about Pennsylvania:
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Best Allentown Suburbs To Live For 2023
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North Wales is always mentioned as one of the best suburbs in the Allentown area. We’ll tell you the good about “Awesome North Wales.”
Everyone here is rich; families average $117,750 a year, which is the 3rd highest in the Allentown region. And only 3.4% are out of work. Homes average more than $292,700 each.
/10
Population: 3,946
Median Income: $117,955
Unemployment Rate: 1.6%
Poverty Rate: 2.3%
More on Trappe: Data | Real Estate
Trappe is the second best ‘burb we looked at near Allentown for 2023.
It ranks 2nd for incomes in the area and only 3.62% of residents lack insurance, good for 22nd best.
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Population: 2,787
Median Income: $105,625
Unemployment Rate: 4.3%
Poverty Rate: 4.6%
More on New Britain: Data | Real Estate
Here in New Britain, it’s really safe, and residents are just about as rich as you’ll see in the Allentown metro area.
The bad side? Schools are more crowded, and the cost of living puts a large part of the city out of reach for most families.
But price is based on demand and a lot of people want to live in New Britain.
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Population: 3,866
Median Income: $84,531
Unemployment Rate: 3.4%
Poverty Rate: 5.7%
More on Pennsburg: Data | Real Estate
Pennsburg ranks as the 4th best suburb of Allentown for 2023.
You won’t find many better places to raise your kids in the region than in Pennsburg and the schools are some of the best around.
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Population: 4,986
Median Income: $93,934
Unemployment Rate: 7.1%
Poverty Rate: 5.2%
More on Collegeville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
Coming in as the fifth best is Collegeville.
Collegeville gets kudos for having the 3rd most expensive homes in the Allentown area, where houses sell for an average of $335,200. However, the cost of living here is among the highest in the area.
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Population: 2,758
Median Income: $123,550
Unemployment Rate: 4.3%
Poverty Rate: 2.1%
More on Clinton: Data | Real Estate
Clinton is proud of its 6th place finish on this list. And here’s why.
Most residents have great jobs and the unemployment rate sits at 4.33%.
According to online reports, Clinton is quickly becoming one of the more affluent suburbs in the Allentown area, meaning you need to get in soon.
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The 7th best suburb on our list goes to North Catasauqua.
North Catasauqua schools are some of the best in the region, and crime is really low. The cost of living makes it a lot more desirable for many families, especially first-time home buyers.
And, it’s only 3.4 miles to downtown, which is a good thing.
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Fleetwood is growing quickly, and for a good reason. Crime is far below average, and most residents are gainfully employed. Even the cost of living is reasonable.
A solid 2.0% of people lack insurance, good for 4th in the area.
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Population: 9,068
Median Income: $86,163
Unemployment Rate: 4.0%
Poverty Rate: 8.5%
More on Perkasie: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
Is ‘Everything Better In Perkasie?’
Almost.
It placed 9th on our list thanks to the fact that it’s really expensive to live here, but the schools are great, so you get what you pay for in that regard.
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Population: 11,589
Median Income: $75,750
Unemployment Rate: 4.1%
Poverty Rate: 6.8%
More on Emmaus: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
And rounding out the top ten for 2023 is Emmaus.
This city is far above average in every category, and the best part? It’s far more affordable than the other cities listed above. So, you get a big bang for your buck here.
Methodology: How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Allentown for 2023
Figuring out the best suburbs around Allentown was simple. We used Saturday Night Science to find things people like about living in the suburbs and then locate the suburbs with those things.
We analyzed the newest American Community Survey data for 2017-2021 to research each suburb. We decided upon the following criteria:
- Low unemployment rate
- High median household incomes
- Population density (lots of things to do)
- High home values
- A lot of college-educated people
- Low poverty
- High rate of insured families
We defined a suburb as being within 30 miles of Allentown.
Additionally, we limited the analysis to places that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 56 suburbs to evaluate around Allentown.
We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 56 in each category, where 1 was the “best.
Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality-of-life index.
Finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index, the “Best Suburb near Allentown.” We’re lookin’ at you, North Wales.
This result may differ from our state-wide data as we did not include commute times and crime for this analysis to allow for a more extensive selection of suburbs.
We updated the data for 2023. This report is our tenth time ranking the best Allentown suburbs. Skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.
Summary: Welcome to the Best Allentown ‘Burbs of 2023
We said it once, and we’ll say it again–life in the big city isn’t for everyone. At least not all the time.
So if you’re craving the amenities of a larger city like Allentown but don’t want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might be for you.
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