Welcome to Ephrata ...

Ephrata is located in Lancaster County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Ephrata, you might get a feel for it by knowing that during our research the earliest mention that we found (so far) was in a book dated 1895.

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Ephrata has a population of 13,865 people<2> (see below for details).

Ephrata is 350 feet [107 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Ephrata lies in the Eastern Time Zone (EST/EDT) and observes daylight saving time

Ephrata is within the (717) area code.

Websites for Ephrata ...

Official Website:   www.ephrataboro.org/

Chamber of Commerce:   www.ephrata-area.org/

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Ephrata had an population of 13,865 people. This is an increase of 3.52% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 4.93% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Ephrata had a population of 13,394 people. This makes Ephrata the county's 2nd most populous community.

The population of Ephrata represents 0.11% of the population of Pennsylvania (which has 12,702,379 people), making it the state's 48th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 13,394 people, the population of Ephrata increased 1.37% from the 2000 Census (with a count of 13,213 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Ephrata.

Communities Also Named Ephrata ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found another community named Ephrata - it's located in Washington.

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Ephrata.

Communities near Ephrata ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Ephrata.

• Reading
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reading
  • Reading is located in Berks County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 88,217 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Reading <4>
• Lancaster
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lancaster
  • Lancaster is located in Lancaster County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 58,990 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lancaster <4>
• Lebanon
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lebanon
  • Lebanon is located in Lebanon County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 25,725 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lebanon <4>
• Wyomissing
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Wyomissing have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wyomissing
  • Wyomissing is located in Berks County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,605 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Wyomissing <4>
• Columbia
  (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Columbia have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Columbia
  • Columbia is located in Lancaster County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,295 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Columbia <4>
• Lititz
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lititz
  • Lititz is located in Lancaster County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 10,022 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Lititz <4>
• Millersville
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Millersville
  • Millersville is located in Lancaster County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,289 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Millersville <4>
• Mount Joy
  (17 miles [27.4 km] to the west)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Mount Joy
  • Mount Joy is located in Lancaster County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 8,264 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Mount Joy <4>
• New Holland
  (7 miles [11.3 km] to the southeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Holland
  • New Holland is located in Lancaster County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,547 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for New Holland <4>
• Shillington
  (14 miles [22.5 km] to the northeast)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Shillington
  • Shillington is located in Berks County
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 5,300 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Shillington <4>

To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...

We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.

We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Ephrata. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Ephrata.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Ephrata. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ephrata.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Ephrata. Our list includes 8 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Ephrata.

TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Ephrata ...

Looking for more information about Ephrata? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.

In addition to the Tourism page for Ephrata, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Ephrata.

Adding Ephrata to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Ephrata in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.

From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Ephrata was in the book titled Business Atlas and Shippers' Guide (1895).

We also found Ephrata on a map titled Rand McNally Map of Pennsylvania (1911).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Ephrata.

Off-the-Road Links ...

The official website for Ephrata: www.ephrataboro.org/

The official website for Lancaster County: www.co.lancaster.pa.us/

The official website for State of Pennsylvania: https://www.pa.gov/