Tafton is a very small town located in the state of Pennsylvania. With a population of 1,518 people and just one neighborhood, Tafton is the 737th largest community in Pennsylvania.
Tafton is a blue-collar town, with 39.91% of people working in blue-collar occupations, while the average in America is just 27.7%. Overall, Tafton is a town of transportation and shipping workers, sales and office workers, and construction workers and builders. There are especially a lot of people living in Tafton who work in office and administrative support (12.99%), food service (10.56%), and management occupations (9.51%).
One interesting thing about the economy is that relatively large numbers of people worked from their home: 9.59% of the workforce. While this number may seem small overall, as a fraction of the total workforce this is high compared to the rest of the county. 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 Tafton is a major vacation destination. Much of the town’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, Tafton’s population drops significantly, such that year-round residents will notice that the city is a much quieter place to live.
Because of many things, Tafton is a great place for families with children to consider. First of all, many other families with children live here, making Tafton a place where both parents and children are more likely to develop social ties with other families, as well as find family-oriented services and community. The town’s good public school district and large population of college-educated adults provide an environment conducive to academic values. With regard to real estate, Tafton has a high rate of owner-occupied single family homes, which tends to reflect stability in the local community. Finally, Tafton’s overall crime rate ranks among the lowest in the country, making it one of the safest places to raise a family.
It is a fairly quiet town because there are relatively few of those groups of people who have a tendency to be noisy. (Children, for example, often can't help themselves from being noisy, and being parents ourselves, we know!) Tafton has relatively few families with children living at home, and is quieter because of it. Renters and college students, for their own reasons, can also be noisy. Tafton has few renters and college students. But the biggest reason it is quieter in Tafton than in most places in America, is that there are just simply fewer people living here. If you think trees make good neighbors, Tafton may be for you.
In terms of college education, the citizens of Tafton rank slightly lower than the national average. 15.95% of adults 25 and older in Tafton have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree, while 21.84% of adults have a 4-year degree or higher in the average American community.
The per capita income in Tafton in 2022 was $34,994, which is middle income relative to Pennsylvania and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $139,976 for a family of four. However, Tafton contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Tafton home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Tafton residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Tafton include Irish, German, Italian, English, and Polish.
The most common language spoken in Tafton is English. Other important languages spoken here include Slavic languages and Italian.
Many things matter about a neighborhood, but the first thing most people notice is the way a neighborhood looks and its particular character. For example, one might notice whether the buildings all date from a certain time period or whether shop signs are in multiple languages. This particular neighborhood in Tafton, the neighborhood, has some outstanding things about the way it looks and its way of life that are worth highlighting.
Of note is NeighborhoodScout's research finding that the neighborhood has some of the lowest rates of children living in poverty of any neighborhood in the United States. In a nation where approximately 1 in 4 children are living in poverty, the community truly stands out from the rest in this regard.
In addition, if you're looking for a great spot to raise a family, then look no further than the neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's analysis found that the combination of good quality public schools, above-average safety from crime, and a high rate of home ownership in predominantly single-family homes, help make this neighborhood among the top 10.3% of family-friendly neighborhoods across the state of Pennsylvania. In addition, there are a high proportion of other families with school-aged children living here, making it easy for parents and their children to socialize and develop a sense of community support. In addition, families here highly value education, as is reflected by the strength of the local schools, in part due to the educational attainment of the parents here, who vote in support of the public schools. In addition to being an excellent choice for families with school-aged children, this neighborhood is also a very good choice for active retirees.
Despite all of the residential real estate here in the neighborhood, NeighborhoodScout has discovered that much of it is vacant. In resort or second-home vacation areas, this naturally occurs because homes and apartments are seasonally occupied, and empty for a portion of the year. In non-vacation or resort areas, however, this can be an indicator of property abandonment or a weak real estate market. The vacancy rate here is 46.9%, which is higher than 98.5% of all U.S. neighborhoods.
The government often provides some of the more stable jobs in the economy. From local, to state, to federal government workers, the government can also be a major employer. What NeighborhoodScout's analysis revealed, is that the neighborhood in particular stands out when compared nationally for the proportion of its working residents who are employed by the government. At 14.0% of its workforce, this neighborhood has a greater concentration of government workers than 96.4% of U.S. neighborhoods.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Austrian and Irish ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 1.5% of this neighborhood's residents have Austrian ancestry and 23.0% have Irish ancestry.
Do you like to be surrounded by people from all over the country or world, with different perspectives and life experiences? Or do you instead prefer to be in a neighborhood where most residents have lived there for a long time, creating a sense of cohesiveness? NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals that this neighborhood stands out among American neighborhoods for the uniqueness of the mobility of its residents. More residents of the neighborhood live here today that also were living in this same neighborhood five years ago than is found in 96.8% of U.S. neighborhoods. This neighborhood is really made up of people who know each other, don't move often, and have lived here in this very neighborhood for quite a while.
There are two complementary measures for understanding the income of a neighborhood's residents: the average and the extremes. While a neighborhood may be relatively wealthy overall, it is equally important to understand the rate of people - particularly children - who are living at or below the federal poverty line, which is extremely low income. Some neighborhoods with a lower average income may actually have a lower childhood poverty rate than another with a higher average income, and this helps us understand the conditions and character of a neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Tafton are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 65.8% of U.S. neighborhoods. In addition, 0.0% 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 100.0% of America's neighborhoods.
What we choose to do for a living reflects who we are. Each neighborhood has a different mix of occupations represented, and together these tell you about the neighborhood and help you understand if this neighborhood may fit your lifestyle.
In the neighborhood, 39.9% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 25.2% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (21.9%), and 14.0% in government jobs, whether they are in local, state, or federal positions.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 96.0% of households.
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
In the neighborhood in Tafton, PA, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as Irish (23.0%). There are also a number of people of German ancestry (22.3%), and residents who report Italian roots (9.7%), and some of the residents are also of English ancestry (7.0%), along with some Polish ancestry residents (4.1%), 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 under 15 minutes commuting one-way to work (35.2% of working residents), one of the shortest commutes across America.
Here most residents (85.2%) 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.