Berks County, Pennsylvania

• White (non-Hispanic) 288,465 66.6%
• Hispanic or Latino (any race) 107,531 24.8%
• Black or African American (non-Hispanic) 17,109 4.0%
• Asian (non-Hispanic) 5,418 1.3%
• Two or more races (non-Hispanic) 12,138 2.8%
• American Indian / Alaska Native (non-Hispanic) 212 0.0%
• Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander (non-Hispanic) 95 0.0%
• Some other race (non-Hispanic) 2,047 0.5%

• Under 18 95,140 22.0%
• 18–24 41,262 9.5%
• 25–44 106,897 24.7%
• 45–64 111,616 25.8%
• 65 and over 78,100 18.0%

Median household income

$78,176

90% interval $74,896–$81,456

+$644 vs PA · 14th of 67

Below poverty line

12.8%

90% interval 11.6%–14.0%

+1.2 pp vs PA · 24th of 67

Unemployment (12-mo)

4.3%

+0.1 pp vs. state

County GDP

$26.6B

2.64% of state

Avg. annual pay

$65,982

Establishments

8,908

• Education & health services 44,587 25.5%
• Trade, transportation & utilities 36,727 21.0%
• Manufacturing 31,196 17.8%
• Professional & business services 20,304 11.6%
• Leisure & hospitality 14,831 8.5%
• Construction 7,863 4.5%
• Financial activities 5,601 3.2%
• Other services 5,409 3.1%
• Public administration 4,500 2.6%
• Natural resources & mining 2,719 1.6%
• Information 894 0.5%

Home ownership

71.3%

+2.0 pp vs PA · 50th of 67

Median gross rent

$1,181

−$28 vs PA · 15th of 67

Owner-occupied

116,334

Renter-occupied

46,902

• Moderately concentrated

  Top three sectors employ 64% of the county workforce. Substantial intra-sector overlap among panelists is likely; confirm employer relationships before sector-specific framing.

• Wide wage spread

  Highest-paid sector (Financial activities, $105,961/yr) pays 4.5× the lowest (Leisure & hospitality, $23,318/yr). Stark intra-economy class divisions on the panel; calibrate damages and lost-wages framing to that range.

• Institutional employer scale

  Average establishment employs 20 workers, typical of an institutional-employer economy where large hospitals, plants, schools, and government agencies dominate. Expect many panelists to share an employer rather than work for themselves.

• Republican 116,677 55.6%
• Democratic 91,125 43.4%
• Other / third-party 2,036 1.0%

• Spanish 72,178 17.6%
• German or other West Germanic 3,135 0.8%
• French, Haitian, or Cajun 1,861 0.5%
• Russian, Polish, or other Slavic 1,301 0.3%
• Vietnamese 887 0.2%
• Chinese 750 0.2%
• Arabic 490 0.1%
• Tagalog 387 0.1%
• Korean 88 0.0%

Households

163,236

Family households

108,511

66.5% of households

Married couples w/ children

27,541

25.4% of families

Single-mother families

11,744

10.8% of families

Veterans

18,922

5.6% of civilians 18+

• Catholic 83,923 19.6%
• Mainline Protestant 54,415 12.7%
• Evangelical Protestant 46,057 10.7%
• Other (non-Christian + minor traditions) 8,688 2.0%
• Orthodox 1,362 0.3%
• Black Protestant 1,270 0.3%

Health insured

92.7%

±0.5 pp

Uninsured

7.3%

±0.5 pp

13th of 67

With a disability

13.5%

±0.5 pp

54th of 67

Bachelor's or higher

27.7%

±0.8 pp

−7.5 pp vs PA · 21st of 67

Uninsured, under 65 (2024)

9.5%

90% interval 8.8%–10.2% · Census SAHIE

The under-65 uninsured rate is not comparable to the ACS insurance figures, which cover all ages.

Trial court

23rd Judicial District Court of Common Pleas

Judges

13 (Court of Common Pleas judges per district (general civil + felony criminal + family + orphans' court jurisdiction); vintage 2026 pacourts.us; cross-checked against 42 Pa. C.S. § 911. Magisterial District Judges (limited jurisdiction: preliminary criminal, landlord-tenant, small civil up to $12K) are separately allocated and not counted here. Philadelphia Municipal Court (limited civil + minor criminal in Philadelphia only) also separate.)

Court seats

Reading

Traffic fatalities

47

13.91 per 100k adults (18+)

Fatal crashes

47