People of German descent make up 20.8% of the population of the town, followed by Irish at 16.0%, Italian at 9.1%, English at 7.5%, Polish at 5.0%, American at 2.0%, Sub-Saharan African at 1.5%, French at 1.3%, Scottish at 1.0%, Greek at 0.9%, Welsh at 0.8%, Scotch-Irish at 0.7%, Norwegian at 0.5%, and Russian at 0.5%.
[9] The Perry Hall Improvement Association (PHIA) is the oldest and largest civic organization in northeastern Baltimore County, Maryland.
An early version of the PHIA operated during the Second World War when Perry Hall residents organized a Health Committee to help veterans purchase wheelchairs, crutches, and other equipment.
The PHIA defeated plans for a cemetery on the South Farm, a racetrack on Forge Road, and a drive-in movie theater near St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church.
Its most significant accomplishment came on September 8, 1963, when Baltimore County Executive Spiro Agnew and other officials dedicated the new Perry Hall library on Belair Road.
The most symbolic loss for the community was the development of Lassahn Field, long used for soccer games, carnivals, and Easter egg hunts.
In 1994, the PHIA provided critical local support for the Honeygo Plan, a blueprint for developing Perry Hall's rural northeast.
With the Honeygo Plan adopted and much of the community now built-out, the PHIA focused in the late 1990s on some of the civic activities that had been abandoned years earlier.
The PHIA worked with other groups to restart the Halloween Parade and begin a summer concert series, the centerpiece of which was a performance by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
The PHIA is governed by an executive board that includes Jack Amrhein, president; Kevin Leary, vice-president; Tom Benisch, treasurer; Renee Papavasiliou, secretary; and several members-at-large members.