Mount Gretna is a tiny borough located in the state of Pennsylvania. With a population of 188 people and just one neighborhood, Mount Gretna is the 1096th largest community in Pennsylvania. Mount Gretna has a large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic boroughs in the country.
Mount Gretna is a decidedly white-collar borough, with fully 90.41% of the workforce employed in white-collar jobs, well above the national average. Overall, Mount Gretna is a borough of managers, professionals, and sales and office workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Mount Gretna who work in management occupations (19.18%), business and financial occupations (19.18%), and sales jobs (12.33%).
A relatively large number of people in Mount Gretna telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 13.89% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
Another notable thing is that Mount Gretna is a major vacation destination. Much of the borough’s population is seasonal: many people own second homes and only live there part-time, during the vacation season. The effect on the local economy is that many of the businesses are dependent on tourist dollars, and may operate only during the high season. As the vacation season ends, Mount Gretna’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.
In addition, Mount Gretna is home to many people who could be described as "urban sophisticates", which are people who are not only wealthy and employed in professional occupations, but highly educated to boot. Urban sophisticates have urbane tastes - whether they reside in a big or small city, a suburb, or a little town. Urban sophisticates support bookstores, quality clothing stores, enjoy luxury travel, and in big cities, they are truly the patrons of the arts, attending and supporting institutions such as opera, symphony, ballet, and theatre.
Because of many things, Mount Gretna is a very good place for families to consider. With an enviable combination of good schools, low crime, college-educated neighbors who tend to support education because of their own experiences, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family properties, Mount Gretna really has some of the features that families look for when choosing a good community to raise children. Is Mount Gretna perfect? Of course not, and if you like frenetic nightlife, it will be far from your cup of tea. But overall this is a solid community, with many things to recommend it as a family-friendly place to live.
Mount Gretna is a small borough, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.
If knowledge is power, Mount Gretna is a pretty powerful place. 57.63% of the adults in Mount Gretna have earned a 4-year college degree, masters degree, MD, law degree, or even PhD. Compare that to the national average of 21.84% for all cities and towns.
The per capita income in Mount Gretna in 2022 was $64,256, which is wealthy relative to Pennsylvania and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $257,024 for a family of four.
The people who call Mount Gretna home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Mount Gretna residents report their race to be White. Important ancestries of people in Mount Gretna include German, English, Irish, French, and Polish.
The most common language spoken in Mount Gretna is English. Other important languages spoken here include Italian and French.
The way a neighborhood looks and feels when you walk or drive around it, from its setting, its buildings, and its flavor, can make all the difference. This neighborhood has some really cool things about the way it looks and feels as revealed by NeighborhoodScout's exclusive research. This might include anything from the housing stock to the types of households living here to how people get around.
If you're nearing retirement age, or in retirement, the is an excellent choice for you to consider for top-quality retirement living. This neighborhood is rated by NeighborhoodScout as among the top 7.5% of retiree-friendly neighborhoods in Pennsylvania, combining peace and quiet, safety from crime, and offering diverse housing options from which retirees can choose. Maybe it's because of these amenities that a large proportion of the residents here are college educated seniors, mixed with other age groups. For these and other reasons, NeighborhoodScout identifies this neighborhood as a top-notch place to consider if you are thinking of or planning to retire in Pennsylvania.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Swiss and German ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 7.2% of this neighborhood's residents have Swiss ancestry and 46.0% have German ancestry.
is also pretty special linguistically. Significantly, 0.7% of its residents five years old and above primarily speak Mon-Khmer, which is the dominant language of Cambodia, at home. While this may seem like a small percentage, it is higher than 98.4% of the neighborhoods in America.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Mount Gretna are upper-middle income, making it an above average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's exclusive analysis reveals that this neighborhood has a higher income than 65.1% of the neighborhoods in America. In addition, 5.9% of the children seventeen and under living in this neighborhood are living below the federal poverty line, which is a lower rate of childhood poverty than is found in 61.4% of America's neighborhoods.
A neighborhood is far different if it is dominated by enlisted military personnel rather than people who earn their living by farming. It is also different if most of the neighbors are clerical support or managers. What is wonderful is the sheer diversity of neighborhoods, allowing you to find the type that fits your lifestyle and aspirations.
In the neighborhood, 44.7% of the working population is employed in executive, management, and professional occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is manufacturing and laborer occupations, with 24.0% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (16.3%), and 13.4% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 95.6% of households. Some people also speak Polish (2.6%).
Culture is the shared learned behavior of peoples. Undeniably, different ethnicities and ancestries have different cultural traditions, and as a result, neighborhoods with concentrations of residents of one or another ethnicities or ancestries will express those cultures. It is what makes the North End in Boston so fun to visit for the Italian restaurants, bakeries, culture, and charm, and similarly, why people enjoy visiting Chinatown in San Francisco.
In the neighborhood in Mount Gretna, PA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (46.0%). There are also a number of people of English ancestry (11.0%), and residents who report Swiss roots (7.2%), and some of the residents are also of Irish ancestry (6.1%), along with some Polish ancestry residents (5.9%), among others.
How you get to work – car, bus, train or other means – and how much of your day it takes to do so is a large quality of life and financial issue. Especially with gasoline prices rising and expected to continue doing so, the length and means of one's commute can be a financial burden. Some neighborhoods are physically located so that many residents have to drive in their own car, others are set up so many walk to work, or can take a train, bus, or bike. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (41.0% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (83.3%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.