In the later 20th century, it was home to Ralph J. Roberts, co-founder of Comcast, as well as to the Gimbels family,[5] founders of the department store chain.

Today, it remains home to many gilded age mansions such as Lynnewood Hall, a 110-room, neoclassical estate, the Elkins Estate presently being restored as a hotel-spa, distillery and events center[6] and the Henry West Breyer Sr. House, the former residence of the ice cream magnate which now serves as the Cheltenham Township Municipal building.

[8] It is notable for its varied architectural styles (among them: Modern, American colonial and Dutch colonial, Queen Anne, English Cottage and Tudor[9]) its wealth of homes designed by renowned 19th and 20th century architects such as Horace Trumbauer,[10] Louis Kahn[11] and Robert A.M. Stern[12] and its diversity of religious institutions.

With six synagogues it also makes up the foundation of the "Old York Road Corridor" of the Philadelphia area Jewish community, supported by the approximately 25,000 Jews in the Cheltenham-Jenkintown-Abington region.

As of 2021, the US Census QuickFacts reports that Elkins Park is 62.6% white alone, 27.6% Black or African American, 4.9% two or more races, 4.2% Hispanic or Latino, and 3.8% Asian alone.

In the AMC period drama television series Mad Men, the character Betty Draper was raised in the "tiny Philadelphia suburb of Elkins Park, Pennsylvania".