A typical Orwell home is worth roughly $217,000
Builders were permitted 1 new home in 2025.
What kind of housing town is Orwell?
Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.
A typical home costs 2.4 years of income
Less than across Pennsylvania (3.7 years). Try your own numbers below.
That covers a typical Orwell home, with $132K to spare.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,220 a month here, $80 less than owning.
An estimate, not a loan offer: payments of up to 28% of income, a 30-year fixed loan, Orwell’s typical property tax (0.93% of value a year, from the Census) and insurance of about 0.35%. Mortgage insurance, HOA fees and other debts aren’t included.
A two-bedroom rents for about $1,220
Renters already here pay a median of $1,335.
Fair Market Rent a month, utilities included
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Fair Market Rents by ZIP code (Bradford County, PA): the 40th-percentile rent plus utilities for a standard unit. Median rent and renters: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey.
1 new home permitted in 2025
Builders were permitted 1 new home in Orwell in 2025. That's 0.8 per 1,000 residents, slower than across Pennsylvania (2). Over the past 10 years, Orwell has permitted 21 homes in all.
Between the 2010 and 2020 censuses, Orwell gained 27 residents while 18 new homes were permitted: about 1.5 new residents per new home. Building and growth moved roughly in step. Across Pennsylvania: 1.4 new residents per new home.
Every year as a table
| Year | New homes | Single-family | 2+ per building | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 (Jan–Aug) | 1 | 1 | 0 | $330,000 |
| 2025 | 1 | 1 | 0 | $311,000 |
| 2024 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $660,000 |
| 2023 | 8 | 8 | 0 | $2.4 million |
| 2022 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $1.1 million |
| 2021 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $518,000 |
| 2020 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $496,000 |
| 2019 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2018 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2017 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2016 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $492,000 |
| 2015 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $454,000 |
| 2014 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $422,000 |
| 2013 | 5 | 5 | 0 | $966,000 |
| 2012 | 4 | 4 | 0 | $736,000 |
| 2011 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2010 | 3 | 3 | 0 | $498,000 |
| 2009 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $125,000 |
| 2008 | 7 | 7 | 0 | $800,000 |
| 2007 | 2 | 2 | 0 | $200,000 |
| 2006 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2005 | 7 | 7 | 0 | $800,000 |
| 2004 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| 2003 | 14 | 14 | 0 | $1.9 million |
Homes authorized by building permits, counted in the year the permit was issued. U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey.
78% of Orwell households own their home
Half of Orwell’s homes were built before 1980.
Pennsylvania: 69% own.
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024.
Orwell vs. its neighbors
Orwell is the 3rd least expensive of 5 neighboring towns. Tap one to see its housing page.
Compare more
Typical value: Zillow Home Value Index; * Census median home value where Zillow has none. † FHFA price index change where Zillow has none. Rent: HUD Fair Market Rent. New homes: Census building permits.
Neighbors talk housing
What Orwell buyers, sellers and renters are saying.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Home values: Zillow Home Value Index (ZHVI), Zillow Research. Sales, days on market and supply: Redfin Data Center. Income, ownership, taxes and rent: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey. New homes: U.S. Census Bureau, Building Permits Survey. Fair Market Rents: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Listings link to their publishers. The calculator is an estimate, not a loan offer.