Palmerton Area HS

Palmerton Area HS is a modestly sized 9-12 campus in Palmerton, Pennsylvania, overseen by Palmerton Area SD. The school serves 478 students in grades 9 through 12. That puts it 35% below the typical public school in Pennsylvania, which averages around 738 students.

Palmerton Area HS is one of 5 schools operated by Palmerton Area SD, a district that works with 1,616 students overall.

For racial and ethnic makeup, Palmerton Area HS lists that 87% of students identify as White, making the school strongly White-majority. Beyond that, the school logs 10% Hispanic. That composition is broadly in line with Carbon County as a whole.

On the resource side, Staff filings list 41 full-time-equivalent teachers, which works out to roughly 11.6:1 students per teacher. The state averages around 12.8:1, so this campus is tighter than the state norm typical. Roughly 42% of students at Palmerton Area HS qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, a number frequently used as a low-income enrollment indicator. That share is south of Carbon County's rate of about 65%.

After controlling for student poverty, Palmerton Area HS tracks the demographic baseline. The model predicts 59.8% given the school's FRL share; actual proficiency is 59.7%.

Around the school, the surrounding county (Carbon County) records that median household income runs about $67,554, 19% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, and roughly 8% of residents live below the federal poverty line. In all, Carbon County runs 18 public schools (combined enrollment of about 8,111 students), of which Palmerton Area HS is one.

Nearest neighbor: Palmerton Area JHS, around 0.0 miles off. Within five miles, there are 7 other public schools. On composite proficiency, Palmerton Area HS comes 3rd of 8 in the immediate cluster, ahead of the nearby-schools average of 51.4%.

The campus sits in a small-town setting.

Over the past 7-year window. Over the past 7-year window, the student count held roughly steady: 467 students in 2018 compared to 478 in 2025. Over the same period, the White share edged down from 94% to 87%. The student-to-teacher ratio pulled in from 13.6:1 in 2018 to 11.6:1 today.

Inside the community feed, members of the Palmerton Area HS community share and discuss sports schedules, lunch menu changes, and school spirit week. Contributors range from current parents to recent graduates and teachers.