Reading is a larger medium-sized city located in the state of Pennsylvania. With a population of 94,858 people and 48 associated neighborhoods, Reading is the fourth largest community in Pennsylvania. Reading has an unusually large stock of pre-World War II architecture, making it one of the older and more historic cities.Because occupations involving physical labor dominate the local economy, Reading is generally considered to be a blue-collar town. 41.24% of the Reading workforce is employed in blue-collar occupations, compared to the national average of 27.7%. Overall, Reading is a city of service providers, sales and office workers, and production and manufacturing workers. There are especially a lot of people living in Reading who work in office and administrative support (11.07%), food service (7.13%), and healthcare suport services (6.70%). Reading has a lot of people who ride taxis to and from work. In fact, for its size, Reading has quite a high level of public transit users. Reading’s need for inexpensive transportation options for its citizens is quite high.The percentage of people in Reading with college degrees is quite a bit lower than the national average for cities and towns of 21.84%: just 11.74% of people over 25 have a bachelor's degree or 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. Reading also has a high percentage of its population that was born in another country: 19.38%. The most common language spoken in Reading is Spanish. Other important languages spoken here include English and French Creole.
