Many people in Reading take advantage of public transportation to get around. In fact, for the size of the city, the number of people who use taxis to commute to work is quite high. This helps to fill a need among Reading citizens for affordable transportation.
The rate of college-level education in Reading is quite a bit lower than the national average among all cities of 21.84%: just 11.74% of people here over 25 have a bachelor's degree or an advanced degree.
The per capita income in Reading in 2022 was $20,782, which is low income relative to Pennsylvania and the nation. This equates to an annual income of $83,128 for a family of four. However, Reading contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
Reading is an extremely ethnically-diverse city. The people who call Reading home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. People of Hispanic or Latino origin are the most prevalent group in Reading, accounting for 67.17% of the city’s residents (people of Hispanic or Latino origin can be of any race). The greatest number of Reading residents report their race to be White, followed by Black or African-American. Important ancestries of people in Reading include German, Irish, Italian, Polish, and English.
Foreign born people are also an important part of Reading's cultural character, accounting for 19.38% of the city’s population.
The most common language spoken in Reading is Spanish. Other important languages spoken here include English and French Creole.
