Allentown's old Wards neighborhoods went up during the industrial boom of the late 1800s and early 1900s, and a lot of those houses got carved into multifamily apartments once families started moving to the suburbs. That leaves plenty of narrow, steep staircases built for one household now serving two or three — tight newel posts, mid-flight landings, the kind of layout where a straight-rail stairlift often isn't the right fit. We size up a lot of curved-rail jobs in this city for exactly that reason.
Why a stairlift installed in Allentown, PA is planned around the way this specific community lives, not stamped out from a one-size-fits-all template.
Allentown sits in a valley between Blue Mountain (1,000-1,600 feet, about 17 miles north) and South Mountain (a 500-1,000-foot ridge along the city's southern edge), with the Lehigh River, Jordan Creek, and Little Lehigh Creek converging within city limits.
Source ↗Allentown's older residential "Wards" were built during the late 19th- and early 20th-century industrial boom, with Art Deco commercial landmarks like the Dime Savings and Trust building downtown; many of these century-old homes were later subdivided by landlords into multifamily apartments during suburban flight, leaving a mixed-age, multi-unit housing stock in the urban core.
Source ↗After Mack Trucks ran eight Allentown plants from 1905 until relocating in 2009 and Western Electric built the first transistor there in 1951, the local economy shifted to services, healthcare, and warehousing/transportation.
Source ↗Compare Our Allentown Stairlifts
Select a stairlift on the leftabove to see full specs, pricing, and how it compares to the alternatives.
Stairlift Types
Bestseller
The workhorse of Allentown's rowhouses, twins, and colonials. Over 70% of the stairlifts we install across Allentown and the Lehigh Valley are this model.
vs Curved: 3x less expensive and installed in one visit. vs Home elevator: 10-15x less cost and no construction. vs Moving bedroom downstairs: Keeps your home exactly as it is.
Custom-Built
Custom rails for Old Allentown Victorians, three-story twins, and West End landing turns. When your staircase has a turn, a mid-landing, or a three-story run — the rail has to be manufactured for your exact geometry.
vs Straight with landing break: One smooth ride instead of transferring seats. vs Home elevator: Half the cost, no construction permits, no shaft needed. vs Moving: A fraction of what selling and relocating costs.
Weather-Tough
Freeze-thaw rated for 62 cycles per year — built for the Lehigh Valley winter. Every outdoor component is freeze-thaw engineered for Pennsylvania's brutal cycling.
vs Standard stairlift outdoors: Won't rust, seize, or void its warranty. vs Exterior ramp: No permits, no concrete work, no lost yard. vs Home entry renovation: Installed in a single day.
400 lb Rated
When comfort and capacity matter more than the standard 300 lb limit. The reinforced frame handles up to 600 lbs with a 22-inch padded seat.
vs Standard stairlift: Extra capacity and wider seat for maximum comfort. vs Custom furniture lift: A fraction of the price with faster install. vs Home elevator: Much lower cost with the same weight confidence.
When you call All American Stairlifts, you'll speak directly with a licensed installer who lives and works in Lehigh, PA.
Allentown Stairlift Specialist · 15+ years of experience
(800) 965-0350 [email protected]Proven local experience. Licensed. Insured. No surprises.
Two screens, less than 60 seconds. An Allentown specialist calls back within 24 hours. No pressure, no obligation.
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(800) 965-0350 Call Now. It's FreeWhat a stairlift project looks like for families in Allentown and nearby Lehigh County. Drag to scroll, or use the arrows and dots below.
Our South Side rowhouse has stairs so narrow two other companies said no. All American measured at 27 inches and installed a compact-profile rail that fits perfectly with room to walk on the other side. My mother speaks only Spanish and Luis explained every single button in Spanish at her kitchen table — twice. She rides it every day now. Gracias.
Our 1892 Old Allentown Victorian has the original chestnut banister and I told them if they touched one spindle the deal was off. They scanned the staircase, fabricated a curved rail that threads past the newel post without grazing the woodwork, and bolted it exclusively into the treads. Our neighbors came for dinner and didn't notice it for an hour. That's craftsmanship.
My mother fell on the icy front-porch steps two winters ago and I decided this was non-negotiable. All American installed an outdoor lift with stainless hardware and freeze-thaw rated brackets. It's been through a full Pennsylvania winter — including that week in January where everything was coated in ice — without missing a single ride. Worth every dollar.
I'm a Korean War-era veteran and the VA paperwork for my HISA grant was the part I dreaded. All American prefilled VA Form 10-0103 and coordinated with VA Wilkes-Barre. The $2,000 grant covered a big chunk of my straight rail in Rittersville, and they pulled a new electrical circuit for the old aluminum wiring at the same time. One visit, one day, done.
We've lived in our West End colonial for 38 years. After my husband's stroke the stairs became the thing I worried about every single morning. All American installed in three hours on a Wednesday. My husband rides it twice a day and I sleep through the night now. That's what this was really about — not the stairs, but the worry.
I was buying this for my parents in Allentown from out of state. My father speaks mostly Spanish and my mother was nervous about strangers in the house. Luis let me join on a video call, spoke to both my parents in Spanish, and walked them through every measurement. They were installed the following week. Mamá calls it her escalera mágica.
From the West End — where 1940s colonials and Cape Cods line tree-shaded blocks between Cedar Crest Boulevard and the Allentown Fairgrounds, and the stairlift conversation is usually about reaching upstairs bedrooms in a home the family has owned for 40 years — to Old Allentown, where 1880s Victorian twins sit inside a designated historic district and original chestnut banisters cannot be touched without city review, our team has mapped every block. We know which South Side rowhouses have the 26-inch stair width that requires a compact-profile rail, which East Side duplexes need the low-profile seat for headroom, which Center City conversions need a landing-turn curved rail, and which Rittersville homes have 1940s aluminum wiring requiring a new dedicated circuit.
See our full Pennsylvania service area →
Every home is different. Here are six recent installs from Lehigh County. Tap any project to see the full gallery, tech specs, and the story behind it.
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This determines the rail type and installation complexity.
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Straight Stairlift, Standard Use
Estimated: $2,850 – $5,600
A member of our Allentown team is reviewing your answers right now and will call you within 24 hours. Your quote is free and there is no obligation to buy.
Adjust the options below and watch the price update in real time. This is the same pricing our team uses when they come out for a free home assessment. No hidden fees, no upsells.
Compare your options honestly. A stairlift is the only choice that keeps you in the home you love, at a fraction of every alternative.
| Your option | Upfront cost | 10-year total |
|---|---|---|
| Stairlift Installation Best value Professional install by All American Stairlifts, Allentown PA | $2,850 – $15,300 One-time | $2,850 – $15,300 Lifetime use |
| Moving to a single-story home Selling, buying, closing, moving costs in the Lehigh market | $50,000+ Plus relocation stress | $50,000+ Loss of community ties |
| Assisted living facility Lehigh County average, private room | $4,500/mo Recurring | $540,000 And rising annually |
| In-home caregiver (8 hrs/day) Licensed home health aide, Florida market rates | $6,000/mo Recurring | $730,000+ Before wage increases |
| Home elevator installation Requires shaft construction, permits, months of work | $25,000 to $50,000 Plus renovation | $28,000 to $55,000 Includes maintenance |
Sources: AARP Cost of Care Survey 2025, Genworth Cost of Care Study, and Pennsylvania Department of Elder Affairs. Figures reflect Allentown metro averages.
Most Allentown homeowners qualify for at least one of these programs. We help you apply at no cost.
Up to $6,800 for service-connected veterans and their surviving spouses. One-time, tax-free, no repayment.
Eligibility: Veterans & surviving spousesHome & Community-Based Services Waiver may cover up to 100% of installation for income-qualified residents.
Eligibility: Medicaid + medical needWith a doctor's letter of medical necessity, the full cost is deductible on Schedule A as a qualified medical expense.
Eligibility: Taxpayers who itemize0% and low-APR plans through our lending partners. Soft credit pull, instant approval, no prepayment penalty.
Eligibility: All homeownersNot sure which applies? Our local specialist will walk you through every program you might qualify for during your free home assessment. Get started here →
Straight answers about cost, installation, and funding, no sales fluff. Browse by topic or call us if you have a question that isn't here.
Straight-rail units for one unbroken flight generally run $2,500 to $4,500 installed. Curved rail runs more — typically $8,000 to $14,000 — because the rail is custom-measured to your stairs, and that's the style a lot of Allentown's older Wards homes need once a stairwell has a turn or a landing from being split into apartments.
Traditional Medicare doesn't pay for stairlifts. In Pennsylvania, the path that does is Medicaid managed long-term care — Community HealthChoices (CHC) — which can authorize a stairlift as a home adaptation once your CHC managed care organization signs off based on assessed need. There's no fixed statewide dollar cap; it's decided case by case as part of your service plan.
The PA Assistive Technology Foundation (PATF) offers loans up to $60,000 for equipment like stairlifts — a 0% mini-loan for amounts under $7,000, 3.75% above that. No income limit, which matters in a city like Allentown where plenty of stairlift calls come from households that earn too much for Medicaid but still don't want to pay the full cost up front.
Straight-rail installs are usually done in half a day. Curved rail is different — the rail has to be custom-bent to your exact stairs, so from measurement to install you're typically looking at 3 to 6 weeks. Given how many houses in Allentown's older Wards have a turn or landing partway up, curved is the more common job here, so plan for that lead time rather than a next-week appointment.
No structural changes. The rail bolts into the treads themselves, not the wall, which helps in a lot of Allentown's converted multifamily units where the stairwell wall is shared with a neighboring unit and a landlord doesn't want anything touched. Power comes from a standard outlet at the top or bottom of the run — no rewiring involved.
Most can. The tighter stairwells we see in Allentown's early-1900s Wards housing, some barely wider than the tread, usually still leave enough clearance once you account for the rail sitting close to the wall — about 12 inches deep. We measure on site before quoting anything, because a floor plan doesn't tell you where a newel post or an old radiator is going to get in the way.
Lehigh County Aging & Adult Services runs a Caregiver Support Program that reimburses home modifications up to a $2,000 lifetime grant — call (610) 782-3200 to start that. Separately, the Whole-Home Repairs Program, administered locally through the Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley, covers accessibility upgrades up to $50,000 per owner-occupied unit for qualifying low- and moderate-income owners; the contact there is Mike Handzo at (484) 821-2203.
Depends on the grant. HISA covers structural alterations up to $6,800 if your condition is service-connected, or $2,000 if it isn't — but that's for the structural work, not the lift itself. A stairlift is usually covered separately through VA Prosthetics with no fixed dollar cap, based on medical need. If you're adapting a home more fully, the SAH grant tops out at $126,526 for FY2026. Call 1-877-222-8387 to sort out which one fits your situation.
The OPTIONS Program, state-funded and administered locally through Lehigh County's Area Agency on Aging, covers in-home services for seniors 60 and up who aren't on Medicaid. There's no fixed cap, but a sliding-scale co-pay can apply depending on income, and any other insurance has to be billed first. Intake runs through the same county AAA line, (610) 782-3200.
These are the three guides our Allentown customers read most often before booking. Written by our installers, not marketers.
The timeline, what happens on install day, and how to prep your staircase; most jobs finish in a few hours.
The exact measurements an installer needs: width, rise, turns, and landings, so your first quote is an accurate one.
VA HISA, Medicaid waivers, IRS medical deduction, state grants, and 0% financing, with the actual forms you need.
Allentown Stairlift Specialist · 15+ yrs
Most of the calls I get from the older Wards blocks are for curved rail, not straight — those homes were subdivided into apartments generations ago, and the stairwells were never built with a second household in mind. I tell people up front: if your Allentown house predates the 1950s, budget for curved before you even ask for a quote, because it's usually the right call once we get a tape measure on the stairs.
Your free home assessment takes about 45 minutes. A certified installer walks your stairs with you, measures with a laser, answers every question, and leaves you with a written quote that's honored for 30 days. No sales pitch. No pressure. No charge.
Over 1,500 stairlifts installed across Lehigh County and surrounding areas. Here is what the first step looks like.
Two quick screens. We use the full address to dispatch the installer closest to you.
A certified Allentown technician visits your home, measures your stairs, and answers every question. 100% free. No obligation.
Most stairlifts are installed in a single day by our licensed Allentown team. Clean, quiet, ready to ride the same afternoon.
Or call (800) 965-0350, Monday through Friday, 8am to 6pm
