People QuickFacts Berks County Pennsylvania Population, 2012 estimate 413,491 12,763,536 Population, 2010 (April 1) estimates base 411,447 12,702,379 Population, percent change, April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2012 0.5% 0.5% Population, 2010 411,442 12,702,379 Persons under 5 years, percent, 2011 6.0% 5.7% Persons under 18 years, percent, 2011 23.5% 21.7% Persons 65 years and over, percent, 2011 14.7% 15.6% Female persons, percent, 2011 50.9% 51.2%  White persons, percent, 2011 (a) 89.5% 83.8% Black persons, percent, 2011 (a) 6.3% 11.3% American Indian and Alaska Native persons, percent, 2011 (a) 0.7% 0.3% Asian persons, percent, 2011 (a) 1.5% 2.9% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander persons, percent, 2011 (a) 0.1% 0.1% Persons reporting two or more races, percent, 2011 1.9% 1.6% Persons of Hispanic or Latino Origin, percent, 2011 (b) 16.8% 5.9% White persons not Hispanic, percent, 2011 76.3% 79.2%  Living in same house 1 year & over, percent, 2007-2011 85.9% 87.7% Foreign born persons, percent, 2007-2011 6.3% 5.7% Language other than English spoken at home, percent age 5+, 2007-2011 16.4% 10.0% High school graduate or higher, percent of persons age 25+, 2007-2011 83.8% 87.9% Bachelor's degree or higher, percent of persons age 25+, 2007-2011 22.1% 26.7% Veterans, 2007-2011 31,100 1,007,939 Mean travel time to work (minutes), workers age 16+, 2007-2011 23.9 25.7  Housing units, 2011 165,269 5,579,275 Homeownership rate, 2007-2011 72.9% 70.6% Housing units in multi-unit structures, percent, 2007-2011 18.2% 20.5% Median value of owner-occupied housing units, 2007-2011 $174,000 $163,200 Households, 2007-2011 153,780 4,952,566 Persons per household, 2007-2011 2.58 2.47 Per capita money income in the past 12 months (2011 dollars), 2007-2011 $26,332 $27,824 Median household income, 2007-2011 $54,823 $51,651 Persons below poverty level, percent, 2007-2011 13.1% 12.6%     Business QuickFacts Berks County Pennsylvania Private nonfarm establishments, 2010 8,285 297,023 Private nonfarm employment, 2010 142,598 4,976,193 Private nonfarm employment, percent change, 2000-2010 -4.2 -2.2 Nonemployer establishments, 2010 23,647 762,405  Total number of firms, 2007 30,325 981,501 Black-owned firms, percent, 2007 3.4% 4.6% American Indian- and Alaska Native-owned firms, percent, 2007 S 0.3% Asian-owned firms, percent, 2007 1.7% 3.2% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-owned firms, percent, 2007 F 0.0% Hispanic-owned firms, percent, 2007 5.5% 2.3% Women-owned firms, percent, 2007 27.3% 27.0%  Manufacturers shipments, 2007 ($1000) 8,461,848 234,840,418 Merchant wholesaler sales, 2007 ($1000) 4,417,612 142,859,202 Retail sales, 2007 ($1000) 4,953,210 166,842,778 Retail sales per capita, 2007 $12,307 $13,323 Accommodation and food services sales, 2007 ($1000) 445,993 19,625,449 Building permits, 2011 306 14,967     Geography QuickFacts Berks County Pennsylvania Land area in square miles, 2010 856.51 44,742.70 Persons per square mile, 2010 480.4 283.9 FIPS Code 011 42 Metropolitan or Micropolitan Statistical Area Reading, PA Metro Area   (a) Includes persons reporting only one race. (b) Hispanics may be of any race, so also are included in applicable race categories. FN: Footnote on this item for this area in place of data NA: Not available D: Suppressed to avoid disclosure of confidential information X: Not applicable S: Suppressed; does not meet publication standards Z: Value greater than zero but less than half unit of measure shown F: Fewer than 100 firms Source: US Census Bureau State & County QuickFacts