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Swarthmore, PA

This is a small community in a single neighborhood. As throughout the site, some neighborhood-level data are reserved for subscribers.





Overview


Swarthmore is a somewhat small borough located in the state of Pennsylvania. With a population of 6,536 people and just one neighborhood, Swarthmore is the 204th largest community in Pennsylvania. Swarthmore has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic boroughs in the country.

Swarthmore home prices are not only among the most expensive in Pennsylvania, but Swarthmore real estate also consistently ranks among the most expensive in America.

Occupations and Workforce

Swarthmore is a decidedly white-collar borough, with fully 94.13% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Swarthmore is a borough of professionals, managers, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Swarthmore who work in teaching (15.81%), business and financial occupations (11.67%), and management occupations (10.15%).

And if you like science, one thing you'll find is that Swarthmore has lots of scientists living in town - whether they be life scientists, physical scientists (like astronomers), or social scientists (like geographers!). So, if you're scientific-minded, you might like it here too.

Also of interest is that Swarthmore has more people living here who work in computers and math than 95% of the places in the US.

One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 21.84% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.

Setting & Lifestyle

For a small borough, there is also a high proportion of single, often educated, people living in Swarthmore. This is not typical for smaller communities in America, and adds a feeling of vibrancy to Swarthmore.

Because of many things, Swarthmore is a great place for families with children to consider. First of all, many other families with children live here, making Swarthmore a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families, as well as find family-oriented services and community. The borough’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic values. With regard to real estate, Swarthmore has a high rate of owner-occupied single family homes, which tends to reflect stability in the local community. Finally, Swarthmore’s overall crime rate is lower than average for the country.

Even though Swarthmore is a smaller borough, it has many people who hop on public transportation – mostly the train for their daily commute to work. Typically, these people are commuting to good jobs in the surrounding cities.

Demographics

If knowledge is power, Swarthmore is a pretty powerful place. 80.24% of the adults in Swarthmore have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.

The per capita income in Swarthmore in 2022 was $66,598, which is wealthy relative to Pennsylvania and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $266,392 for a family of four.

Swarthmore is a very ethnically-diverse borough. The people who call Swarthmore home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Swarthmore residents report their race to be White, followed by Asian. Important ancestries of people in Swarthmore include Irish, German, English, Italian, and Polish.

The most common language spoken in Swarthmore is English. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.

Notable & Unique Neighborhood Characteristics

Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Swarthmore, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.

People

A majority of the adults in the neighborhood are wealthy and educated executives. They own stately homes that tend to maintain high real estate appreciation rates. Their upper-level careers keep them busy, but allow them to live comfortably. If you're an executive and want to keep similar company, consider settling in this neighborhood, rated as an executive lifestyle "best choice" neighborhood for Pennsylvania by NeighborhoodScout's analysis, which rated it as better for executive lifestyles than 99.5% of the neighborhoods in Pennsylvania. In addition to being an excellent choice for highly educated executives, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for college students, urban sophisticates and active retirees.

In addition, if knowledge is power, then imagine the cumulative power of one neighborhood where many of the adults have earned an advanced degree, such as a Masters, law degree, medical degree, or even a Ph.D. This is certainly the case in the neighborhood, where 51.6% have earned an advanced degree. Compare that to the average neighborhood in America, where just 13.4% of adults have completed a post-graduate degree, and you can see why this neighborhood is a stand out. In fact, this neighborhood has a higher rate of adults with an advanced degree than 99.3% of the neighborhoods in America.

Modes of Transportation

More people in choose to walk to work each day (16.2%) than almost any neighborhood in America. If you are attracted to the idea of being able to walk to work, this neighborhood could be a good choice.

Occupations

The neighborhood has a higher proportion of its residents employed as executives, managers and professionals than 95.6% of the neighborhoods in America. In fact, 70.2% of the employed people here make a living as an executive, a manager, or other professional. With such a high concentration, this truly shapes the character of this neighborhood, and to a large degree defines what this neighborhood is about.

Diversity

Did you know that the neighborhood has more Irish and Armenian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 25.0% of this neighborhood's residents have Irish ancestry and 1.0% have Armenian ancestry.

The Neighbors

There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.

The neighbors in the neighborhood in Swarthmore are wealthy, making it among the 15% highest income neighborhoods in America. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 91.5% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 2.5% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 73.4% of America's neighborhoods.

The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.

In the neighborhood, 70.2% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants, with 18.5% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions (8.2%), and 5.7% in manufacturing and laborer occupations.

Languages

The languages spoken by people in this neighborhood are diverse. These are tabulated as the languages people preferentially speak when they are at home with their families. The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 85.7% of households. Other important languages spoken here include Chinese and Spanish.

Ethnicity / Ancestry

Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.

In the neighborhood in Swarthmore, PA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (25.0%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (19.0%), and residents who report English roots (12.6%), and some of the residents are also of Italian ancestry (9.4%), along with some Asian ancestry residents (7.7%), among others. In addition, 11.7% of the residents of this neighborhood were born in another country.

Getting to Work

Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (32.4% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.

Here most residents (47.9%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also hop out the door and walk to work to get to work (16.2%) and 9.3% of residents also take the train for their daily commute. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.


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Migration & Mobility
Race & Ethnic Diversity
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Crime includes:
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Schools include:
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