Upper Saucon Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 24.7 square miles (64.0 km²), of which, 24.7 square miles (63.9 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.12%) is water. Its boundary with Salisbury Township is located on Lehigh Mountain. Elevations range from approximately 500 feet in Spring Valley to over 1,000 feet at Bauer's Rock in Big Rock County Park. Upper Saucon is in the Delaware watershed and is drained by the Saucon Creek into the Lehigh River, except for a very small area in the extreme south just SW of Locust Valley, which is drained by the Unami Creek into the Perkiomen Creek and Schuylkill River.

Adjacent municipalities

Upper Saucon surrounds the borough of Coopersburg.

Notable Villages

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 11,939 people, 3,970 households, and 3,283 families residing in the township. The population density was 483.9 people per square mile (186.9/km²). There were 4,117 housing units at an average density of 166.9/sq mi (64.4/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 97.11% White, 0.70% African American, 0.06% Native American, 1.13% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.40% from other races, and 0.59% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.07% of the population.

There were 3,970 households, out of which 37.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 74.2% were married couples living together, 5.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 17.3% were non-families. 13.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 5.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.79 and the average family size was 3.07.

In the township the population was spread out, with 24.0% under the age of 18, 11.1% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 27.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 99.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.1 males.

The median income for a household in the township was $66,703, and the median income for a family was $73,381. Males had a median income of $50,041 versus $30,165 for females. The per capita income for the township was $27,606. About 0.9% of families and 1.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.6% of those under age 18 and 3.1% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Along with the borough of Coopersburg and Lower Milford Township, Upper Saucon is served by the Southern Lehigh School District. Southern Lehigh High School serves grades nine through twelve.

Board of Supervisors

Upper Saucon is a second-class township and elects five at-large supervisors.

Transportation

Upper Saucon has three north-to-south numbered routes: Pennsylvania Route 309, Pennsylvania Route 145, and Pennsylvania Route 378. In Lanark, PA 309 comes north from Philadelphia via Quakertown to join Interstate 78 coming east from New York City and cross the mountain to Allentown. PA 145 and PA 378 come south from Center City Allentown and Bethlehem, respectively, to meet PA 309 in Lanark and Center Valley, respectively. Other notable roads in the township include Locust Valley Road(later turns to Allentown Road and travels through Lower Milford and exits the county), Beverly Hills Road, Blue Church Road, Blue Church Road South, Center Valley Parkway/Saucon Valley Road, Limeport Pike, Main Street(Center Valley), Oakhurst Drive/Vera Cruz Road, and Passer Road.