Berks County vs York County

A side-by-side comparison of Berks County and York County: population, income, housing, and more.

Berks County and York County are counties in Pennsylvania. This page compares them across population, income, housing, education, commuting, and how each has changed since 2019.

York County has the higher population (459,312 vs 429,989 in Berks County). York County has the higher median household income ($82,238 vs $77,684 in Berks County). Berks County has the higher median home value ($239,700 vs $235,000 in York County).

Population, income & housing

	Berks County	York County
Population	429,989	459,312
Median age	39.9 yrs	40.9 yrs
Median household income	$77,684	$82,238
Median home value	$239,700	$235,000
Median gross rent	$1,143	$1,150
Housing units	171,147	188,608
Homeownership rate	71.0%	75.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	27.2%	27.2%
Unemployment rate	5.3%	4.4%

Trends (ACS 5-year, 2019–2023)

	Berks County	York County
Population	418,025 → 429,989 (+2.9%)	445,565 → 459,312 (+3.1%)
Median household income	$63,728 → $77,684 (+21.9%)	$66,457 → $82,238 (+23.7%)
Median home value	$178,700 → $239,700 (+34.1%)	$177,100 → $235,000 (+32.7%)
Median gross rent	$939 → $1,143 (+21.7%)	$957 → $1,150 (+20.2%)

Berks County

Population

418,025429,989

Median household income

$63,728$77,684

Median home value

$178,700$239,700

Median gross rent

$939$1,143

York County

Population

445,565459,312

Median household income

$66,457$82,238

Median home value

$177,100$235,000

Median gross rent

$957$1,150

Age & race/ethnicity

Age distribution (share)

	Berks County	York County
Under 5	5.5%	5.4%
5 to 17	16.6%	16.6%
18 to 24	9.5%	7.9%
25 to 34	12.4%	12.3%
35 to 44	12.0%	12.5%
45 to 54	12.4%	12.8%
55 to 64	13.8%	14.1%
65 to 74	10.3%	10.9%
75 and over	7.4%	7.5%

Race & ethnicity (share)

	Berks County	York County
White (non-Hispanic)	67.8%	80.0%
Black or African American	4.0%	5.4%
American Indian & Alaska Native	0.1%	0.0%
Asian	1.3%	1.4%
Native Hawaiian & Pacific Islander	0.0%	0.0%
Some other race	0.4%	0.5%
Two or more races	2.5%	3.5%
Hispanic or Latino	24.0%	9.1%

Educational attainment (age 25+)

Share of adults 25+

	Berks County	York County
No high school diploma	11.6%	8.6%
High school graduate	36.9%	38.0%
Some college or associate's	24.4%	26.1%
Bachelor's degree	17.4%	17.1%
Graduate or professional degree	9.8%	10.1%

Commute to work

How workers get to work (share)

	Berks County	York County
Drove alone	75.3%	78.5%
Carpooled	8.3%	7.4%
Public transit	1.0%	0.8%
Walked	2.8%	1.5%
Bicycle	0.1%	0.2%
Worked from home	10.6%	10.5%
Other means	1.9%	1.0%

Housing

Units in structure (share)

	Berks County	York County
1-unit, detached	56.2%	64.1%
1-unit, attached	23.2%	16.9%
2 to 4 units	8.1%	6.5%
5 to 19 units	5.3%	4.8%
20 or more units	4.5%	3.3%
Mobile home & other	2.7%	4.4%

Poverty & households

	Berks County	York County
Poverty rate	11.7%	8.6%
Average household size	2.57	2.50
Mean commute (minutes)	25	27
Median year structure built	1968	1976