Demographic indicators present information on key aspects of the people in a region: telling us what the population looks like and how is it evolving in terms of age, gender, race and ethnicity and immigrant and disability status. Overall, the population of Lancaster County is becoming older and more diverse in both racial/ethnic and immigrant terms, although the population remains overwhelmingly white and native-born.

Since 2010, the overall population in Lancaster County has grown approximately 8%, notably higher than the state increase of 3% and slightly below the national rate of 10%. The City of Lancaster’s population decreased 1.4% from 2010 to 2024.

The population of Lancaster County has been aging. Between 2010-14 and 2020-24, the greatest increase was among those ages 60 to 84 (up 32%), followed by people 85 and older (up 15%), while the population under 20 showed no change. While the percentage increases in the number of men and women age 85 and older from 2010-14 to 2020-24 were similar, there are still many more women of that age range than men (10,300 and 5,400, respectively).

From 2010-14 to 2020-24, Lancaster County’s Hispanic population grew the most at 31%, followed by the Asian population at 27%. Its African American population increased by 3%, while the white population declined by 3%. Despite these shifts, whites remain a large majority with about 455,000 residents.

In 2020-24, Lancaster County’s population of people with disabilities was 12%, relatively unchanged from 2010-14. This was slightly lower than national, state, and neighboring counties, with the exception of Chester County, which had a slightly smaller percentage at 10%. The City of Lancaster had the highest percentage of people with disabilities at 16%.

In 2020-24, 6% of Lancaster County’s population was foreign-born, up one percentage point from 2010-14. This was slightly lower than Pennsylvania (8%) and lower than the nation (14%). The City of Lancaster had a larger foreign-born population at 13% (or about 7,700 people).

In 2020-24, 17% of Lancaster County residents spoke a language other than English at home, slightly higher than 2010-14. This was higher than Pennsylvania (12%), but lower than the U.S. (22%). The City of Lancaster had the most language diversity—about one-third of its population spoke a language other than English at home.