Hershey is an unincorporate community within Derry Township in Dauphin County in the U.S. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, 14 miles east of Harrisburg. The community has no legal status as an incorporated municipality and all municipal services are provided by Derry Township. The Census Bureau has also defined a census-designated place (CDP) with the same name for statistical purposes, although the local understanding of the community may differ somewhat from the census definition. The population was 12,771 at the 2000 census.