The percentage of residential housing units that are unoccupied or vacant.
A high rate of vacancies can indicate that an area is blighted or in decline, but it can also indicate a high number of vacation or seasonal homes, or an area with a lot of new construction where new owners have not yet moved in.
In 2013-17, 7% of residential housing units in Berks County were vacant, or about 12,500 of 166,400 units. This was less than Pennsylvania (11%) and the nation (12%). Berks County's vacancy rate was fairly stable from 2000 to 2013-17, while there were slight increases at the state (2 percentage points) and national (3 percentage points) levels. The Central region of the county had the highest vacancy rate, at 12%, while other regions had 6% or less. In the City of Reading, 15% of housing units were vacant, up 3 percentage points from 2000.
Among neighboring counties, Schuylkill had the highest percentage of vacancies (16%). Others were lower than Berks, including Chester, Lancaster and Lehigh (all at 5%), 6% in Montgomery and 7% in Lebanon. Schuylkill's vacancy rate was up 5 percentage points from 2000.
For additional detail as to how the Berks County regions are defined and which boroughs and townships are included in each, see the About Us page.
There may be additional research available on this topic. Click on Reports and Resources to learn more.
Multiyear figures are from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. The bureau combined five 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.
2000 | 2008-12 | 2013-17 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | 9% | 12% | 12% | |||
Pennsylvania | 9% | 11% | 11% | |||
Berks County | 6% | 6% | 7% | |||
Berks County Regions | ||||||
Central | 10% | 11% | 12% | |||
Northeast | 4% | 5%* | 6% | |||
South | 3% | 4% | 5% | |||
Southeast | 3% | 4%* | 5%* | |||
West | 5% | 5% | 6% | |||
Reading city | 12% | 13% | 15% | |||
Berks County Peers | ||||||
Chester County | 4% | 4% | 5% | |||
Lancaster County | 4% | 5% | 5% | |||
Lebanon County | 6% | 6% | 7% | |||
Lehigh County | 5% | 6% | 5% | |||
Montgomery County | 4% | 5% | 6% | |||
Schuylkill County | 11% | 13% | 16% |
2000 | 2008-12 | 2013-17 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
United States | 10,424,540 | 16,415,655 | 16,567,643 | |||
Pennsylvania | 472,747 | 604,199 | 646,157 | |||
Berks County | 8,652 | 10,606 | 12,474 | |||
Berks County Regions | ||||||
Central | 4,640 | 5,338 | 5,842 | |||
Northeast | 890 | 1,352* | 1,585 | |||
South | 1,304 | 1,754 | 2,397 | |||
Southeast | 632 | 876* | 1,090* | |||
West | 1,137 | 1,286 | 1,582 | |||
Reading city | 4,201 | 4,728 | 4,930 | |||
Berks County Peers | ||||||
Chester County | 5,868 | 8,464 | 9,306 | |||
Lancaster County | 7,430 | 9,494 | 10,186 | |||
Lebanon County | 2,769 | 3,322 | 4,160 | |||
Lehigh County | 7,004 | 9,075 | 7,857 | |||
Montgomery County | 11,336 | 17,186 | 18,295 | |||
Schuylkill County | 7,276 | 9,212 | 10,979 |
INDICATORS | TREND | BERKS COUNTY |
---|---|
Vacant Housing Units | ![]() |
Homeownership Rates | ![]() |
Housing Affordability for Homeowners | ![]() |
Housing Affordability for Homeowners by Race/Ethnicity | Not Applicable |
Housing Affordability for Renters | ![]() |
Housing Affordability for Renters, by Race/Ethnicity | Not Applicable |
Age of Housing Stock | ![]() |
Single-Family Home Sales | ![]() |
Median Single-Family Home Sale Price | ![]() |