Public pools in Pa. cities: how many are there, and how much does it cost to swim?

We found out.

There are 71 outdoor public pools in Philadelphia. That’s “one for almost every neighborhood in the city, and more than any other city in the nation,” as Malcolm Burnley pointed out in a recent phillymag.com article on a “pop-up pool” project.

“New York,” he continues, “has one pool for every 150,000 residents. In Philly, it’s one for every 22,000.”

It being the dog days of summer, and all, Burnley’s story got us thinking about the number of residents per pool in cities around Pennsylvania. Here’s what we found.

 

Easton has the fewest residents per pool, so we would expect its pools to be less crowded than in the other cities. 

Reading, on the other hand, has only one pool for 87,812 residents.

These numbers aren’t necessarily a measure of how crowded the pools are, of course. That could be affected by the age of the population, the number of private pools and behavioral factors.

Public pools in selected Pennsylvania cities

Here’s what else we found out about the pools, including fees:

EastonPools: 2Population: 27,052Residents per pool: 13,526Fees: Daily; season up to $85 adult, $125 family

BethlehemPools: 5Population: 75,135Residents per pool: 15,027Fees: daily up to $5.50; season up to $60

EriePools: 6Population: 99,452Residents per pool: 16,575Fees: Free

PittsburghPools: 18Population: 305,412Residents per pool: 16,967Fees: Daily up to $5; season up to $60

PhiladelphiaPools: 71Population: 1,560,297Residents per pool: 21,976Fees: None

HarrisburgPools: 2Population: 49,082Residents per pool: 24,541Fees: Daily up to $6; season $90 adult, $150 family

AllentownPools: 3Population: 119,104Residents per pool: 39,701Fees: Daily up to $6; season up to $50 adult, $150 family

Wilkes-BarrePools: 1Population: 41,498Residents per pool: 41,498Fees: for residents, daily up to $2.50; season up to $7 per adult

ScrantonPools: 1Population: 75,281Residents per pool: 75,281Fees: daily up to $2.50; annual up to $150 per adult

ReadingPools: 1Population: 87,812Residents per pool: 87,812Fees: Daily up to $5, season up to $65 adult, $150 family of four

*Fees listed are for residents

Let us know if we should add your city to the list. And if your city is looking for a place to build a public pool, might we suggest a former coal mine?

Data: city websites; 2014 American Community Survey