Bethlehem, Pennsylvania demographics

Bethlehem, PA demographics: median age 36.1; 36.0% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor’s degree. Age, race, households, languages and education, ACS 2020–2024 with margins of error.

ACS 2020–2024 · Bethlehem city, Pennsylvania · Incorporated city · GEOID 4206088. The survey estimates a population of 77,956 for its five-year window. This is separate from the annual July 2025 population estimate on the city overview.

Median age in Bethlehem is 36.1 years, with a 90% margin of error of 1.1 years. There are 31,052 households (±702). Age and household distributions show how these totals are composed; they do not establish which neighborhood suits a particular person.

Every count and share is an estimate. “±” is a 90% margin of error (MOE); pp means percentage points. Derived shares use the category count divided by the named universe. Aggregated category MOEs and percentage MOEs are approximate. A margin larger than half its estimate is flagged as low precision. Blank source uncertainty is shown as unavailable, never zero.

Age distribution and sex

City, state and U.S. estimates · ACS 2020–2024
Measure / survey universe	City estimate ± MOE	State estimate ± MOE	U.S. estimate ± MOE
Median age Total population · years	36.1 ±1.1	40.9 ±0.2	38.9 ±0.1

Age groups · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 77,956
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Pennsylvania	U.S.
Under 18	13,382 ±918	17.2% ±1.2 pp	20.4%	22.0%
18–34	24,480 ±1,256	31.4% ±1.6 pp	21.9%	22.8%
35–64	25,354 ±1,156	32.5% ±1.5 pp	38.1%	38.0%
65 and older	14,740 ±847	18.9% ±1.1 pp	19.5%	17.2%

Sex categories as published by ACS · B01001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 77,956
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Pennsylvania	U.S.
Male	37,638 ±1,061	48.3% ±1.4 pp	49.3%	49.5%
Female	40,318 ±1,048	51.7% ±1.3 pp	50.7%	50.5%

The age groups are mutually exclusive and cover the entire population. The sex categories follow this ACS table’s published classification; they are not a survey of gender identity.

Race and Hispanic origin

Race · B02001 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 77,956
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Pennsylvania	U.S.
White alone	47,131 ±1,504	60.5% ±1.9 pp	74.5%	61.0%
Black or African American alone	6,859 ±1,085	8.8% ±1.4 pp	10.6%	12.2%
American Indian and Alaska Native alone	249 ±164 · low precision	0.3% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.9%
Asian alone	2,208 ±353	2.8% ±0.5 pp	3.8%	6.0%
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone	163 ±145 · low precision	0.2% ±0.2 pp · low precision	0.0%	0.2%
Some other race alone	9,364 ±1,149	12.0% ±1.5 pp	3.7%	7.1%
Two or more races	11,982 ±1,278	15.4% ±1.6 pp	7.1%	12.6%

Hispanic or Latino origin · B03003 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 77,956
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Pennsylvania	U.S.
Not Hispanic or Latino	55,565 ±1,347	71.3% ±1.7 pp	91.3%	80.7%
Hispanic or Latino	22,391 ±1,344	28.7% ±1.7 pp	8.7%	19.3%

Hispanic origin and race are separate questions. People of Hispanic or Latino origin may be of any race and appear in both tables. Do not add the Hispanic share to race shares. Race alone and two-or-more-race groups are the mutually exclusive categories of the race table.

Household types, children and living alone

Household types · B11001 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 31,052
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Pennsylvania	U.S.
Married-couple family	10,915 ±660	35.2% ±2.0 pp	46.2%	46.9%
Other family: male householder, no spouse present	1,530 ±324	4.9% ±1.0 pp	4.7%	5.1%
Other family: female householder, no spouse present	5,052 ±474	16.3% ±1.5 pp	11.5%	12.2%
Nonfamily: householder living alone	10,843 ±753	34.9% ±2.3 pp	30.9%	28.7%
Nonfamily: householder not living alone	2,712 ±362	8.7% ±1.1 pp	6.7%	7.0%

Households with children · B11005 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 31,052
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Pennsylvania	U.S.
Households with people under 18	7,333 ±447	23.6% ±1.3 pp	27.0%	29.5%
Households without people under 18	23,719 ±840	76.4% ±2.1 pp	73.0%	70.5%

Household size · B11016 · ACS 2020–2024 Households: 31,052
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Pennsylvania	U.S.
One-person nonfamily households	10,843 ±753	34.9% ±2.3 pp	30.9%	28.7%
Two-person households	10,631 ±722	34.2% ±2.2 pp	34.7%	33.8%
Three-person households	4,736 ±531	15.3% ±1.7 pp	14.9%	15.3%
Four-person households	2,797 ±417	9.0% ±1.3 pp	11.7%	12.6%
Five-person households	1,359 ±309	4.4% ±1.0 pp	5.0%	5.9%
Six-person households	282 ±107	0.9% ±0.3 pp	1.7%	2.2%
Seven or more people	404 ±196	1.3% ±0.6 pp	1.1%	1.4%

A family household contains related people under the Census definition. A nonfamily household can contain one person or unrelated people sharing a home. Households with children can also appear in the household-type and size tables, so those tables must not be added together. Household estimates exclude people living in group quarters from the household universe.

Nativity and languages spoken at home

Nativity · B05002 · ACS 2020–2024 Total population: 77,956
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Pennsylvania	U.S.
Native	70,124 ±1,001	90.0% ±1.3 pp	92.3%	85.9%
Foreign born	7,832 ±1,002	10.0% ±1.3 pp	7.7%	14.1%

Language spoken at home · C16001 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 5 and older: 74,657
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Pennsylvania	U.S.
English only	57,036 ±1,504	76.4% ±2.0 pp	87.6%	77.7%
Spanish	13,309 ±1,224	17.8% ±1.6 pp	5.6%	13.6%
French, Haitian, or Cajun	466 ±286 · low precision	0.6% ±0.4 pp · low precision	0.5%	0.7%
German or other West Germanic	350 ±119	0.5% ±0.2 pp	0.9%	0.5%
Russian, Polish, or other Slavic	461 ±230	0.6% ±0.3 pp	0.8%	0.7%
Other Indo-European	1,404 ±420	1.9% ±0.6 pp	1.7%	2.0%
Korean	45 ±35 · low precision	0.1% ±0.0 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.3%
Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese	762 ±308	1.0% ±0.4 pp	0.8%	1.1%
Vietnamese	33 ±30 · low precision	0.0% ±0.0 pp · low precision	0.3%	0.5%
Tagalog, including Filipino	25 ±31 · low precision	0.0% ±0.0 pp · low precision	0.2%	0.6%
Other Asian and Pacific Island	324 ±160	0.4% ±0.2 pp	0.7%	1.1%
Arabic	83 ±56 · low precision	0.1% ±0.1 pp · low precision	0.4%	0.5%
Other and unspecified	359 ±234 · low precision	0.5% ±0.3 pp · low precision	0.5%	0.8%

Foreign born means not a U.S. citizen at birth; it includes naturalized citizens. Language categories describe speech at home among people age five and older. A language other than English at home does not establish that someone cannot speak English. This city page uses the published C16001 summary categories because the more detailed B16001 table does not provide these city records in this release.

Educational attainment

Highest completed education · B15003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 25 and older: 51,880
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Pennsylvania	U.S.
Less than high school graduate	4,849 ±578	9.3% ±1.1 pp	7.9%	10.4%
High school graduate or equivalency	14,535 ±899	28.0% ±1.6 pp	32.9%	26.0%
Some college, no degree	8,906 ±801	17.2% ±1.5 pp	15.1%	19.1%
Associate’s degree	4,933 ±566	9.5% ±1.1 pp	8.9%	8.8%
Bachelor’s degree	10,975 ±885	21.2% ±1.6 pp	20.9%	21.6%
Graduate or professional degree	7,682 ±727	14.8% ±1.4 pp	14.3%	14.1%

The denominator excludes residents under 25. Each person is counted in the highest attainment category they completed. This table does not measure the quality of local schools or the education level of every current student.

Residence one year earlier

Geographic mobility · B07003 · ACS 2020–2024 Population age 1 and older: 77,213
Category	Count ± MOE	Share ± MOE (pp)	Pennsylvania	U.S.
Same house	64,974 ±1,221	84.1% ±1.6 pp	89.3%	87.7%
Moved within same county	4,335 ±897	5.6% ±1.2 pp	5.6%	6.3%
Moved from a different county in the same state	5,105 ±952	6.6% ±1.2 pp	2.6%	3.1%
Moved from a different state	2,155 ±500	2.8% ±0.6 pp	1.9%	2.3%
Moved from abroad	644 ±312	0.8% ±0.4 pp	0.4%	0.6%

These are respondents’ residence patterns one year before their survey response, pooled across the five-year window. They are not a net migration count for 2025. A person can move to a different house within the same city or county; moves within the same county should not automatically be interpreted as new arrivals to the city.

Health insurance, internet access and veterans

6.6% of Bethlehem residents (±0.9 percentage points) had no health insurance coverage when surveyed, compared with 5.6% in Pennsylvania and 8.4% nationally. 88.5% of households subscribe to broadband of any type, including cellular data plans. A subscription is not the same as available service: the FCC National Broadband Map shows providers at a specific address.

City, state and U.S. shares · ACS 2020–2024
Measure	Bethlehem	Pennsylvania	U.S.	Compared with Pennsylvania
People without health insurance Civilian noninstitutionalized population	6.6% ±0.9 pp	5.6%	8.4%	Not statistically different
Households with a broadband subscription Households	88.5% ±1.3 pp	89.7%	91.0%	Not statistically different
Veterans Civilian population age 18 and older	5.2% ±0.6 pp	6.1%	6.2%	Lower

Reading and reusing the estimates

The Census table links above lead to the original detailed tables. Counts, source universes and uncertainty are retained in the source observation download for Bethlehem . Compare these figures with the same survey window; do not compare one city’s five-year estimate with another city’s annual estimate as though they measured the same period. For methods, see uncertainty and denominator calculations.

Read Bethlehem housing and cost context or return to the city profile.