Pennside vs West Reading

A side-by-side comparison of Pennside and West Reading: population, income, housing, and more.

Pennside and West Reading are places in Pennsylvania. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

Pennside has the higher population (5,406 vs 4,537 in West Reading). Pennside has the higher median household income ($77,411 vs $61,974 in West Reading). Pennside has the higher median home value ($195,000 vs $159,700 in West Reading).

Population, income & housing

	Pennside	West Reading
Population	5,406	4,537
Median age	39.0 yrs	34.9 yrs
Median household income	$77,411	$61,974
Median home value	$195,000	$159,700
Median gross rent	$1,289	$1,159
Housing units	2,352	1,743
Homeownership rate	77.7%	54.4%
Bachelor's degree or higher	24.7%	33.3%
Unemployment rate	2.7%	4.6%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Pennside	West Reading
Population	4,304 → 5,406 (+25.6%)	4,268 → 4,537 (+6.3%)
Median household income	$65,295 → $77,411 (+18.6%)	$47,071 → $61,974 (+31.7%)
Median home value	$153,000 → $195,000 (+27.5%)	$117,400 → $159,700 (+36.0%)
Median gross rent	$960 → $1,289 (+34.3%)	$812 → $1,159 (+42.7%)

Pennside

Population

4,3045,406

Median household income

$65,295$77,411

Median home value

$153,000$195,000

Median gross rent

$960$1,289

West Reading

Population

4,2684,537

Median household income

$47,071$61,974

Median home value

$117,400$159,700

Median gross rent

$812$1,159

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Pennside	West Reading
Under 5	6.0%	7.8%
5 to 17	15.1%	14.7%
18 to 24	4.2%	13.7%
25 to 34	21.5%	14.0%
35 to 44	8.6%	16.6%
45 to 54	10.5%	9.0%
55 to 64	17.6%	13.2%
65 to 74	8.9%	6.5%
75 and over	7.5%	4.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Pennside	West Reading
White (non-Hispanic)	67.2%	50.4%
Black or African American	2.8%	4.6%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.0%	0.0%
Asian	0.0%	6.6%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.1%	0.0%
Two or more races	7.1%	5.8%
Hispanic or Latino	22.7%	32.5%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Pennside	West Reading
No high school diploma	7.4%	9.3%
High school graduate	41.5%	34.3%
Some college or associate's	26.4%	23.1%
Bachelor's degree	13.0%	16.6%
Graduate or professional degree	11.7%	16.8%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Pennside	West Reading
Drove alone	81.4%	79.6%
Carpooled	8.8%	1.2%
Public transit	0.4%	0.5%
Walked	1.5%	10.8%
Bicycle	0.0%	0.0%
Worked from home	6.4%	8.0%
Other means	1.5%	0.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Pennside	West Reading
1-unit, detached	57.7%	6.5%
1-unit, attached	18.0%	65.0%
2 to 4 units	7.3%	13.9%
5 to 19 units	6.2%	7.6%
20 or more units	5.7%	6.9%
Mobile home & other	5.0%	0.0%

Poverty & households

	Pennside	West Reading
Poverty rate	5.8%	17.9%
Average household size	2.45	2.47
Mean commute (minutes)	26	22
Median year structure built	1955	1938