Community indicators cover a broad range of measures of what makes a region and community appealing to live in, including civic participation such as charitable giving and voting, crime and incarceration rates, population density, air and water quality, and the quality of housing. Compared to its peer counties and the state and nation, Lancaster is stronger in charitable giving, and has generally lower violent crime and incarceration rates. However, Lancaster has higher rates of air and water pollution and greater racial disparities in incarceration than many of its peer counties.

In 2022, the average charitable contribution in Lancaster County was $26,400, above the average for Pennsylvania ($17,000) and the U.S. ($18,900).

In 2024, 84% of voting-age Lancaster County residents were registered to vote, less than the 88% in Pennsylvania as a whole. The county’s voter registration rate increased 8 percentage points from 2015. All neighboring counties, except for Berks County (80%), had a higher voter registration rate in 2024 than Lancaster. In 2024, 66% of voting-age people in Lancaster County cast votes in the election, similar to the statewide rate of 67%.

The age of housing stock in an area gives an indication of supply, demand, local construction levels, and the overall quality of housing available. On average, Lancaster County has newer housing stock than the state, but older stock than the nation. Nine percent of Lancaster County’s housing stock has been constructed since the 2010s. This is above the Pennsylvania rate of 6%, and below the national rate of 11%. By contrast, 20% percent of Lancaster County’s housing stock was constructed before the 1940s. This is below the Pennsylvania average of 25%, but above the national average of 12%.

In 2024, there were 1.2 violent crimes reported per 1,000 residents in Lancaster County, lower than the Pennsylvania (2.5) and national (3.6) rates. The county rate has decreased notably since 2020 and is 33% below the 2010 rate. Likewise, the state’s violent crime rate dropped steadily from 2010 to 2024 – a 31% decline, while the US fell 11% in the same period.

In 2025, the average Lancaster County daily jail population was 300, down 70% from 2016. That amounts to 0.5 county jail inmates per 1,000 residents in Lancaster County, below the 1.9 incarceration rate of Pennsylvania as a whole. In 2024, African Americans in Lancaster were incarcerated at a rate of 89 persons per 10,000 residents, more than 11 times the rate of 8.0 per 10,000 for White residents. Latinos, at 32 per 10,000 residents, were incarcerated at four times the rate of White residents.

Lancaster County had a 2024 population density of 597 people per square mile, above the Pennsylvania level of 292 and the U.S. level of 96. Among area counties, Lancaster has the second highest population density, behind Chester (747). Parts of the county differ dramatically in population density. In the City of Lancaster, the density is 8,086 people per square mile.

In comparison to peer counties and the state, Lancaster had more challenges to air and water quality. In 2025, 63% of days in Lancaster were healthy air days, a positive increase from 41% in 2010. The year with the fewest healthy air days was 2014, at 16%. Lancaster lags behind its peer counties in air quality: in 2025, 64%-72% of days in peer counties were healthy air days. The air quality among all counties have increased since 2010.

Lancaster had higher rates of stream pollution than the state as a whole and most neighboring counties. In the 2023-25 reporting period, 62% of Lancaster’s streams were pollution-impaired for aquatic life, 4% were impaired for fish consumption, 66% were impaired for recreation and 2% were impaired for water supply. These were significantly above state rates of 19% for aquatic life, 15% for recreation, and 0.3% for water supply, but below the 7% for fish consumption. 

Lancaster County’s daily average of 86 gallons per capita in 2024 was the lowest since 2019, and lower than the statewide average of 104 gallons. Lancaster City reported significantly higher usage, at 134 gallons per resident per day — the highest among the areas compared. Among surrounding counties, Lancaster used more water per capita than all others except Dauphin County, which averaged 102 gallons per resident.