Sell Your Commercial Property In Reading, PA

Who rents in Reading

Reading has 95,242 residents and 33,164 occupied homes, and 19,690 of those are rented, a 59.4% renter share in the ACS 2020–2024 estimates. The city's median household income is $44,091, and renters earn far less: Spotlight PA, citing Census figures, put the 2024 median income of Reading renter households at $30,465. The burden numbers follow. Of renter households, 11,068 (56.2%) spend 30% or more of income on rent, and 5,776 (29.3%) spend at least half.

Employment in and around the city leans on health care, manufacturing and education: Tower Health's Reading Hospital in West Reading, East Penn Manufacturing in the county, and Albright College and Alvernia University in the city. Tenant stress is visible in the courts. Spotlight PA counted more than 3,600 eviction filings in Berks County in 2024, with Reading ZIP codes showing the county's highest filing rates.

Rents and affordability

The Census median gross rent of $1,067 includes utilities and averages leases from 2020 to 2024, so it lags the current market. Spotlight PA reported Zillow listings in Reading averaging about $1,355 a month, while a renter household earning the median $30,465 could afford about $760 under the common 30%-of-income guideline. That gap explains the high burden figures. HUD's Fair Market Rents for the Reading metro, which set voucher payment standards across Berks County, rose sharply for FY2026:

HUD's worksheet explains the jump. Recent movers in the metro paid $1,319 at the 40th percentile, against $1,087 in the five-year data, a 21% gap that HUD built into the new figures. For a building full of long-term tenants, that is a measure of how far in-place rents may trail what a new lease would bring, though Reading's renter incomes limit how fast rents can rise in practice.

The apartment stock

Reading's housing is very old, with a median year built of 1938. It is a rowhouse city: 18,824 of its 36,032 housing units (52.2%) are attached single-family homes. Another 6,548 units (18.2%) are in two- to four-unit buildings. Buildings with five or more units hold 6,291 units, 17.5% of the stock, including 2,561 in buildings of 50 or more. The small and mid-size segment is modest: 1,734 units in five- to nine-unit buildings, 1,229 in buildings of 10 to 19 and 767 in buildings of 20 to 49.

The areas on our Reading page differ. Centre Park and Callowhill are older city neighborhoods of row homes and large converted houses. West Reading and Wyomissing are separate boroughs west of the river with their own municipal taxes and school district.

Property taxes

Berks County assesses property, and a city building pays county, city and school district taxes. The county's 2026 rate sheet lists the Berks County rate at 9.013 mills. The City of Reading lists its 2025 real estate tax at 18.129 mills, with a discount for payment by April 30. School district taxes come on top. At sale, the Commonwealth's 1% realty transfer tax is added to a local tax, and buyer and seller are jointly liable.

Landlord rules and local compliance

• Inspections: Reading requires all multifamily and rental properties to be inspected every two to five years, with fines for noncompliance, according to Spotlight PA.
• Pre-sale inspections: in January 2026 the city reinstated pre-sale health and safety inspections, after a period of post-sale inspections caused by staffing shortages. The city reviews the property even if the buyer waives a private inspection.
• Rent caps: Pennsylvania has no law limiting rent increases, and the City Council solicitor said caps are preempted by the Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951. The 2026 Housing Bill of Rights proposal also calls for fee disclosure, free eviction counsel and stronger habitability enforcement; no ordinance had been introduced as of July.
• Source of income: advocates also want voucher holders protected from discrimination, but a Regional Housing Legal Services attorney told Spotlight PA that forcing landlords to accept Section 8 could face legal hurdles under a state Supreme Court ruling.
• Deposits: state law caps deposits at two months' rent in the first year and one month afterward, with an itemized damage list due within 30 days of move-out.

What this means if you own a building here

HUD's 16% jump raises the ceiling on voucher rents, but with a median renter income of $30,465, many tenants cannot pay much more. Buyers will weigh both, along with a 1938 median build year and a pre-sale inspection that can surface code issues before closing. Skyline buys 5+ unit buildings in Reading and nearby Berks County, stabilized or in need of work. Try the apartment building value calculator, or start at sell my apartment building.