Local Incomes, Education Levels Analyzed in New Comprehensive Plan

In preparing the new Economic Development Chapter of the Central Perkiomen Valley Planning Commission Regional Comprehensive Plan Update, Montgomery County planners used 2010 U.S. Census data to take an in-depth look at jobs in the Central Perkiomen Valley, comprised of Collegeville, Trappe, Lower Frederick, Upper Frederick, Perkiomen and Schwenksville. 

Earnings of Resident Workers

According to census data, 58.2 percent of employees who reside in the area make more than $3,333 per monthly – more than five percentage points higher than the number making the same sum in Montgomery County, and almost 20 percentage points higher those who make that on a state-wide level.

On the opposite, 16.8 percent make $1,250 or less per month, which is roughly four percentage points less than the number of people in Montgomery County who make that monthly income and almost 10 percentage points less than those in Pennsylvania who make that.

Education of Resident Workers

The education attainment of resident workers in the Central Perkiomen Valley Region is similar to that of Montgomery County, and varies widely from the statewide numbers.

Of resident workers in the region, 4.3 percent did not graduate high school, compared to five percent in Montgomery County and 6.6 percent statewide. There is a five-point difference between those who graduated high school and did not attend college in the Central Perkiomen Valley Region, 18.7 percent, and Pennsylvania, 23.5 percent.

Of the residents in the region, 32.9 percent of them achieved a Bachelor’s Degree or advanced degree, compared to 33.1 percent of Montgomery County resident workers and 23.1 percent of those throughout Pennsylvania.

Age Distribution of Resident Workers

The age of most residential workers in the central Perkiomen Valley are between 30 and 54, which is true of Montgomery County and Pennsylvania. Resident workers under the age of 29 make up 19.5 percent of the working population; workers ages 55 and older make up 16.6 percent; this figure is more than four points less than Montgomery County and three points less than Pennsylvania.

Employment Types of Resident Workers

The most common profession in Central Perkiomen Valley is health care and social assistance – 1,634 jobs, or 12.3 percent of jobs available in Perkiomen Valley, are in that category.  This trend continues county- and nation-wide as the highest industry.

Professional, Scientific and Technical services, manufacturing and retail trade also top the list, each making up more than 10 percent of the Perkiomen Valley market.

Types of Occupied Jobs in the Region

As previously reported on Patch, roughly 7.3 percent of resident workers are employed in the Central Perkiomen Valley Region.  The numbers of jobs in the area break down slightly differently than the types of employees residing in the area.

The largest type of employer in the region is educational services with 17 percent of jobs, followed by public administration at 16.2 percent, manufacturing at 12.4 percent and health care and social services at 11.3 percent, according to the census. 

The percentage of education jobs in the Central Perkiomen region is far greater than in Montgomery or Pennsylvania, possibly due to Ursinus College and both the Perkiomen Valley and Boyertown School Districts sitting in the region.

The highest percentage of jobs available in Montgomery County is health care and social assistance at 14.2 percent, and the same statewide with 17.4 percent, matching both regions’ highest employment type of residential workers.