Gratz, Pennsylvania

Gratz was named after the founder Simon Gratz.

Gratz is located in northeastern Dauphin County at 40°36′35″N 76°43′04″W.[4] It sits along the northern base of Short Mountain, a western extension of Bear Mountain, part of the Ridge and Valley Province of the Appalachian Mountains. Pennsylvania Route 25 passes through the borough, leading east 18 miles (29 km) to Interstate 81 and west 14 miles (23 km) to Millersburg on the Susquehanna River.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough has a total area of 2.9 square miles (7.6 km²), all of it land.[3]

As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 676 people, 301 households, and 194 families residing in the borough. The population density was 225.2 people per square mile (87.0/km²). There were 331 housing units at an average density of 110.3 per square mile (42.6/km²). The racial makeup of the borough was 99.56% White, 0.30% from other races, and 0.15% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.18% of the population.

There were 301 households, out of which 22.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.5% were married couples living together, 4.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.5% were non-families. 31.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 18.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.25 and the average family size was 2.81.

In the borough the population was spread out, with 19.1% under the age of 18, 10.5% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 24.7% from 45 to 64, and 21.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 103.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.1 males.

The median income for a household in the borough was $32,917, and the median income for a family was $46,063. Males had a median income of $31,429 versus $21,500 for females. The per capita income for the borough was $16,837. About 8.6% of families and 14.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.9% of those under age 18 and 18.8% of those age 65 or over.

School aged children, residing in Gratz, may attend the local, public schools operated by Upper Dauphin School District which provides kindergarten through 12th grade. The District's enrollment declined to 1,237 students K-12 in 2013. Upper Dauphin School District ranked 322nd out of 500 public schools for academic achievement of its pupils in 2013. Gratz residents may also apply to attend Infinity Charter School located on 51 Banks St, Harrisburg and any of the Commonwealth's 13 public cyber charter schools at no additional cost to the parents. The Upper Dauphin School District is required to pay the charter school and cyber charter school tuition for residents who attend these public schools.[8][9] By Commonwealth law, if the District provides transportation for its own students, then the District must provide transportation to any school that lies within 10 miles of its borders. Residents may also seek admission for their school aged child to any other public school district. When accepted for admission, the student's parents are responsible for paying an annual tuition fee set by the Pennsylvania Department of Education. In 2012, the tuition fees for Upper Dauphin School District were: Elementary School - $8,961.52, High School - $9,565.39.

Capital Area Intermediate Unit #15 provides a wide variety of services to children living in its region, which includes Gratz. Early screening, special educations services, speech and hearing therapy and many other services like driver education are available. Services for children during the preschool years are provided without cost to their families when the child is determined to meet eligibility requirements. CAIU15 also operates Capital Area Online Learning Association which is an online learning program operated in association with the local public schools.[10]

Gratz residents have access to Harrisburg Area Community College. People residing in Gratz fund HACC in part through an annual payment made by Upper Dauphin School District.[11] Twenty two local public school districts are required to contribute annually to HACC regardless of whether any residents are attending the college. Full-time students from these districts, who attend HACC, pay $1,674 for 12 credit hours.

• Carl Scheib, Major League Baseball pitcher