Lancaster County

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Change in Total Population by Age, 2019-23

What does this measure?

The change in population of a geographic area broken down by selected age groups since 2008-12.

Why is this important?

Population measures provide insight on the changing size and face of communities, and an area's needs and assets. For example, areas with large or growing populations of seniors or children may face challenges in providing needed services and generating enough tax revenue to support those services.

How does our county compare?

The population of Lancaster County has been aging. From 2009-13 to 2019-23, the number of people between the ages of 60 and 84 increased 33%, outpacing the state and national rate. The population aged 85 and older grew 17%, outpacing both the state and the nation. By comparison, the population ages 40 to 59 declined by 9%, and there was an increase of only 8% among people 20 to 39. There was no change in the population among those under 20.

In 2019-23, people under age 20 were the largest single age group in Lancaster County, with almost 144,000 people, followed by those between the ages of 20 and 39 and people between the ages of 40 and 59, with approximately 139,000 and 128,000 people in each group respectively.

One of the most dramatic age shifts among comparison counties has been in Chester County, where those aged 60 to 84 increased by 39% between 2009-13 and 2019-23. Cumberland County had the largest growth in the under 20 population at 10%. In the City of Lancaster, the population ages 85 and older declined by 38% as did the population under age 20, with a decline of 15%.

Notes about the data

The multi-year figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined multiple years of responses to the survey to provide estimates for smaller geographic areas and increase the precision of its estimates. The survey provides data on characteristics of the population that used to be collected only during the decennial census. Data for this indicator are expected to be released in the fourth quarter.

Change in Total Population by Age, 2019-23

	Under 20	20 to 39	40 to 59	60 to 84	85 or Older
Pennsylvania	-4%	5%	-11%	25%	1%
Lancaster County	-0%	8%	-9%	33%	17%
Lancaster City	-15%	6%	-10%	24%	-38%*
Lancaster County School Districts
School District of Lancaster	-11%	7%	-10%	35%	-39%*
Cocalico School District	8%	5%	-4%	9%	134%**
Columbia Borough School District	-36%	-4%	-15%	64%	52%*
Conestoga Valley School District	4%	14%	-11%	16%	68%*
Donegal School District	5%	-0%	-7%	43%	54%*
Eastern Lancaster County School District	-3%	5%	-8%	13%	4%*
Elizabethtown Area School District	-15%	11%	-8%	53%	25%*
Ephrata Area School District	6%	-3%	-16%	46%	83%*
Hempfield School District	-1%	-1%	-14%	60%	38%*
Lampeter-Strasburg School District	7%	30%	-14%	30%	11%
Manheim Central School District	1%	10%	2%	44%	-19%**
Manheim Township School District	5%	33%	6%	18%	22%
Penn Manor School District	13%	17%	-10%	25%	7%*
Pequea Valley School District	0%	11%	-5%	23%	45%*
Solanco School District	3%	-1%	-15%	35%	6%*
Warwick School District	2%	5%	-10%	31%	-3%
Lancaster County Boroughs
Adamstown borough	96%	3%	62%	10%*	-73%***
Akron borough	28%	-14%	-12%*	33%	-27%***
Christiana borough	-23%*	-12%*	-13%*	35%*	-24%***
Columbia borough	-36%	-4%	-15%	64%	52%*
Denver township	8%	-11%	5%	-18%*	85%***
East Petersburg borough	-14%*	-45%**	14%*	69%*	108%***
Elizabethtown borough	-13%	4%	-12%	56%	-9%**
Ephrata borough	16%	-2%	-31%	36%	195%**
Lititz borough	5%	1%	-10%	22%	-17%*
Manheim borough	33%*	27%	-10%*	-27%*	-78%***
Marietta borough	-12%*	8%	-18%	80%*	-12%***
Millersville borough	4%	0%	18%*	20%*	-26%***
Mount Joy borough	6%*	6%	-12%	50%	86%**
Mountville borough	47%*	-20%*	-12%*	15%*	309%***
New Holland borough	29%*	-14%*	9%*	-3%*	99%***
Quarryville borough	37%	-24%*	3%*	58%	-96%***
Strasburg borough	-17%*	-5%*	-17%*	118%*	66%***
Terre Hill borough	-14%*	12%*	-59%**	-57%*	500%***
Lancaster County Townships
Bart township	-2%	2%	-7%*	28%*	52%***
Brecknock township	-1%	25%	-7%	8%	65%***
Caernarvon township	-13%	14%*	-15%*	14%	-24%*
Clay township	9%	-7%*	-2%	28%	117%***
Colerain township	3%	-9%	9%	25%	180%***
Conestoga township	-19%*	8%*	-18%*	70%*	323%***
Conoy township	2%*	14%*	-25%*	48%*	-16%***
Drumore township	-28%*	12%*	-1%	64%	13%***
Earl township	10%	-6%*	25%*	-12%	-21%*
East Cocalico township	-5%	23%	-17%	18%	269%***
East Donegal township	17%	-2%	6%	28%	48%***
East Drumore township	17%	-17%	-9%*	10%	57%***
East Earl township	-25%	8%	-27%*	118%*	12%***
East Hempfield township	-0%	10%	-13%	59%	7%*
East Lampeter township	11%	8%	-10%	14%	227%**
Eden township	26%*	21%*	-43%*	11%	-26%***
Elizabeth township	8%	-27%*	-17%	62%*	-53%***
Ephrata township	-13%	0%*	-5%	87%	48%**
Fulton township	19%	17%*	-27%	1%*	57%***
Lancaster township	8%	14%	-10%	56%	-39%*
Leacock township	-4%	8%	6%*	44%	-32%***
Little Britain township	-13%	-18%*	-1%*	55%*	21%***
Manheim township	5%	33%	6%	18%	22%
Manor township	26%	19%	-12%	17%	5%**
Martic township	14%*	-5%	-20%	36%	-55%***
Mount Joy township	-16%	2%	6%	57%	68%***
Paradise township	14%	20%*	-19%	24%*	53%***
Penn township	6%	1%*	7%	61%	-39%**
Pequea township	6%*	96%*	-13%*	26%	400%***
Providence township	-1%	18%*	-32%*	55%	-28%***
Rapho township	-16%	8%	3%	59%	99%***
Sadsbury township	14%	25%	-16%	-5%	-64%***
Salisbury township	-3%	10%	-1%	11%	158%**
Strasburg township	14%*	53%*	-51%*	36%*	374%***
Upper Leacock township	-10%	2%	-3%	28%	59%***
Warwick township	-1%	15%	-8%	30%	39%*
West Cocalico township	10%	-6%*	3%	10%	-38%***
West Donegal township	-21%	26%	-14%	42%	40%*
West Earl township	7%	56%	-22%	7%	9%*
West Hempfield township	-3%	1%	-22%	70%	84%*
West Lampeter township	10%	32%	-0%	22%	2%
Berks County	-2%	9%	-9%	26%	12%
Chester County	-1%	11%	-6%	39%	10%
Cumberland County	10%	13%	-1%	27%	25%
Dauphin County	4%	9%	-8%	31%	5%
Lebanon County	5%	6%	-6%	24%	26%
York County	-0%	8%	-10%	33%	19%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Notes: Rate is percentage change from 2009-13. Multiyear results are from rolling American Community Survey. * Margin of error between 20% & 35% of estimate; ** margin of error between 35% & 50%; *** margin of error greater than 50%.

Total Population by Age, 2019-23

	Under 20	20 to 39	40 to 59	60 to 84	85 or Older
Pennsylvania	3,033,705	3,319,183	3,238,292	3,079,133	316,205
Lancaster County	143,810	139,344	128,343	128,015	15,639
Lancaster City	15,118	20,595	13,059	8,444	467*
Lancaster County School Districts
School District of Lancaster	19,074	25,699	16,579	13,457	952*
Cocalico School District	7,087	5,689	6,647	4,314	801**
Columbia Borough School District	1,873	2,635	2,145	3,039	525*
Conestoga Valley School District	10,093	9,148	7,576	7,187	1,135*
Donegal School District	5,578	6,062	5,707	4,766	384*
Eastern Lancaster County School District	9,834	7,580	7,133	7,417	890*
Elizabethtown Area School District	6,988	8,130	7,548	7,740	1,846*
Ephrata Area School District	8,935	9,115	7,693	8,683	889*
Hempfield School District	11,393	10,686	12,262	15,293	1,571*
Lampeter-Strasburg School District	6,453	4,802	5,530	7,332	1,293
Manheim Central School District	5,994	5,685	7,606	7,567	516**
Manheim Township School District	10,154	10,066	10,848	10,919	2,021
Penn Manor School District	11,758	12,476	10,761	9,724	754*
Pequea Valley School District	8,118	6,006	4,498	3,934	255*
Solanco School District	10,853	6,950	7,082	7,590	699*
Warwick School District	8,094	7,516	7,860	8,181	1,005
Lancaster County Boroughs
Adamstown borough	841	599	635	308*	4***
Akron borough	1,087	927	884*	1,158	77***
Christiana borough	204*	222*	182*	261*	77***
Columbia borough	1,873	2,635	2,145	3,039	525*
Denver township	974	1,018	1,147	549*	87***
East Petersburg borough	976*	688**	1,463*	1,342*	106***
Elizabethtown borough	2,894	3,722	2,358	2,485	398**
Ephrata borough	3,490	4,243	2,626	2,948	422**
Lititz borough	2,256	2,428	1,966	2,413	536*
Manheim borough	1,453*	1,567	1,280*	695*	33***
Marietta borough	481*	744	647	905*	50***
Millersville borough	2,769	3,060	1,472*	1,243*	167***
Mount Joy borough	1,932*	2,377	2,011	1,752	238**
Mountville borough	696*	587*	738*	846*	139***
New Holland borough	1,691*	1,176*	1,434*	1,265*	177***
Quarryville borough	845	588*	659*	750	4***
Strasburg borough	674*	683*	639*	1,020*	88***
Terre Hill borough	300*	384*	148**	150*	42***
Lancaster County Townships
Bart township	1,359	772	582*	457*	32***
Brecknock township	2,286	1,842	1,838	1,549	94***
Caernarvon township	1,447	1,112*	1,026*	910	93*
Clay township	1,916	1,379*	1,674	1,800	130***
Colerain township	1,461	727	812	868	42***
Conestoga township	773*	821*	1,153*	1,095*	55***
Conoy township	697*	960*	918*	721*	42***
Drumore township	754*	541*	605	637	44***
Earl township	2,452	1,384*	1,391*	1,513	398*
East Cocalico township	2,777	2,578	2,813	2,058	645***
East Donegal township	2,364	2,316	2,315	1,564	96***
East Drumore township	1,116	778	799*	919	310***
East Earl township	1,658	1,682	1,296*	2,030*	86***
East Hempfield township	5,565	5,511	6,084	8,507	838*
East Lampeter township	4,828	4,769	3,978	3,637	500**
Eden township	939*	571*	370*	431	14***
Elizabeth township	1,115	653*	981	1,181*	38***
Ephrata township	2,442	2,566*	2,509	2,777	260**
Fulton township	1,197	848*	564	560*	47***
Lancaster township	4,080	5,215	3,658	5,127	493*
Leacock township	2,012	1,580	924*	1,092	49***
Little Britain township	1,193	732*	1,159*	961*	88***
Manheim township	10,154	10,066	10,848	10,919	2,021
Manor township	5,562	5,710	5,353	4,898	365**
Martic township	1,504*	1,125	1,486	1,038	42***
Mount Joy township	2,523	2,632	3,050	2,400	148***
Paradise township	2,065	1,353*	1,067	1,092*	90***
Penn township	2,368	1,929*	2,644	3,124	216**
Pequea township	1,150*	1,760*	1,297*	1,418	125***
Providence township	1,989	1,393*	1,532*	2,007	118***
Rapho township	2,173	2,189	3,682	3,748	267***
Sadsbury township	1,327	877	686	611	26***
Salisbury township	4,041	3,073	2,507	1,750	116**
Strasburg township	1,704*	1,044*	611*	1,037*	90***
Upper Leacock township	2,688	2,326	1,889	1,814	203***
Warwick township	4,723	4,435	4,913	4,587	431*
West Cocalico township	2,520	1,507*	2,065	1,399	65***
West Donegal township	1,675	1,441	1,956	2,679	1,258*
West Earl township	2,577	2,053	1,709	1,736	432*
West Hempfield township	4,156	3,900	3,977	4,598	488*
West Lampeter township	3,951	2,964	4,142	5,193	1,107
Berks County	108,224	107,348	108,878	95,246	10,293
Chester County	136,504	129,409	144,746	119,478	10,759
Cumberland County	63,114	67,833	67,140	59,095	7,240
Dauphin County	70,945	74,855	70,881	64,826	5,977
Lebanon County	35,998	33,243	35,271	34,906	4,174
York County	111,680	112,308	117,883	107,197	10,244

Source: U.S. Census Bureau
Notes: Multiyear results are from rolling American Community Survey. * Margin of error between 20% & 35% of estimate; ** margin of error between 35% & 50%; *** margin of error greater than 50%.

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