Moving to Reading, Pennsylvania

About Reading, Pennsylvania
Reading

Reading ( RED-ing; (Pennsylvania Dutch: Reddin) is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 at the 2020 census and is the fourth-most populous city in Pennsylvania after Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Allentown. Reading is located in the southeastern part of the state and is the principal city of the Greater Reading area, which had 420,152 residents in 2020.

Reading gives its name to the now-defunct Reading Company, also known as the Reading Railroad and since acquired by Conrail, that played a vital role in transporting anthracite coal from Pennsylvania's Coal Region to major East Coast markets through the Port of Philadelphia for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. Reading Railroad is one of the four railroad properties in the classic U.S. version of the Monopoly board game. Reading was one of the first localities where outlet shopping became a tourist industry. It has been known as "The Pretzel City" because numerous local pretzel bakeries are based in the city and its suburbs; currently, Bachman, Dieffenbach, Tom Sturgis, and Unique Pretzel bakeries call the Reading area home. In recent years, the Reading area has become a destination for cyclists with more than 125 miles of trails in five major preserves; the region is an International Mountain Bicycling Association ride center.

According to 2010 census data, Reading had the highest share of citizens living in poverty in the nation among cities with populations exceeding 65,000. Reading's poverty rate fell over the next decade. Reading's poverty rate in the five-year American Community Survey, published in 2018, showed that 35.4% of the city's residents were below the poverty line, or less "than the infamous 41.3% from 2011, when Reading was declared the poorest small city in the nation."

Reading is located 38.8 miles (62.4 km) southwest of Allentown and 50 miles (80 km) northwest of Philadelphia.

Gender
Gender Reading Pennsylvania Country
Female 51.4% 51% 50.8%
Male 48.6% 49% 49.2%
Gender

Household Income


Income Reading Pennsylvania Country
Less than $10,000 13.8% 5.8% 5.8%
$10,000 to $14,999 7.8% 4% 4.1%
$15,000 to $24,999 14.7% 8.8% 8.5%
$25,000 to $34,999 12.9% 9% 8.6%
$35,000 to $49,999 13.5% 12.1% 12.0%
$50,000 to $74,999 17% 17.6% 17.2%
$75,000 to $99,999 10.4% 13.2% 12.8%
$100,000 to $149,999 7.1% 15.7% 15.6%
$150,000 to $199,999 1.7% 6.7% 7.1%
$200,000 or more 1.1% 7.1% 8.3%
Education


Education Reading Pennsylvania Country
< 9th Grade 16% 2% 5.0%
9-12th Grade 15% 6% 7.0%
High School or GED 36% 34% 27.0%
Other College 17% 16% 20.0%
Associate's Degree 7% 9% 9%
Bachelor's Degree 7% 20% 20.0%
Master's Degree 2% 9% 9.0%
Professional Degree 0% 2% 2.0%
Doctorate Degree 0% 2% 1.0%
Household Income
Education
Race / Ethnicity


Ethnicity Reading Pennsylvania Country
White 20.4% 75.7% 60.1%
African American 9.2% 10.6% 12.2%
American Indian 0.1% 0.1% 0.6%
Asian 0.8% 3.5% 5.6%
Hawaiian 0% 0% 0.2%
Other 0.5% 0.3% 0.3%
Multiracial 2% 2.2% 2.8%
Hispanic 67% 7.6% 18.2%
Race / Ethnicity