Best Places15557, PA Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 15557, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.

See the map of best neighborhoods

15557 ranks 15,771st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.

#15,771
of 33,110 zip codes
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 33,110 zip codes
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in 15557

Map of the best neighborhoods in the 15557 area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.

15557's strengths and weaknesses

Top 5%Low disaster risk
Top 10%Good schools
Top 10%Affordable childcare
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare 15557 with other zip codes.

Where 15557 ranks high

  • Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of zip codes
  • School gradeA, better than 94% of zip codes
  • Cheap childcare$553 a month, better than 90% of zip codes
  • Heat safetyBetter than 88% of zip codes
  • Tree shadeBetter than 84% of zip codes

Where 15557 ranks low

  • Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
  • Local economyBetter than only 12% of zip codes
  • State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
  • State fiscal healthBetter than only 30% of zip codes
  • Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 33% of zip codes

What it costs to buy a home in 15557

A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 15557 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,460, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.

Income to buy the median home
$37,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$867
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $144,088 home
Median rent
$758
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$735
Property tax$84
Homeowners insurance$48

Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 15557's effective rate of 0.70%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.

Renting versus buying

At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in 15557

15557 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.

Median age
48
older than the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
24%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.3
below the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1819%
18 to 3416%
35 to 4919%
50 to 6422%
65 and older24%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 15557.


Who works in 15557, and how

Work in 15557 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.

Work from home
6%
below the national average
Unemployment
5.4%
above the national average
Job growth
−4.4%
/y 2019-2023, slower than the national pace

Largest industries

Health care & social16%
Manufacturing16%
Construction10%
Transportation & warehousing8%
Retail trade7%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 91%
  • Work from home 6%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 4%

Life in 15557

The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 15557.


What the weather is like in 15557, month by month

15557 sees roughly 96 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 76 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January33°26°20°
April57°47°39°
July76°68°62°
October59°50°44°

Flying in and out of 15557

The nearest airport, Arnold Palmer Regional, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 67 miles away.

Nearest airport
LBE
Arnold Palmer Regional, about 26 miles
Airport size
Nonhub
264th-busiest in the US, 4 nonstop destinations
Average drive
38 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around 15557

Schools across 15557 average an A, better than 94% of zip codes.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 15557 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


15557 measure by measure

Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 15557 against the other 33,109 zip codes.


Common questions about living in 15557

Is 15557 a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 15557 ranks 15,771st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, good schools, and affordable childcare, and lowest on empty homes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is 15557 expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $144,088. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $65,460 median income, cost of living beats 33% of zip codes.

Is 15557 safe?

Yes, 15557 is safer than 70% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $231 per resident a year.


Compare 15557 with other zip codes


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 15557. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 15557 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.

15557 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for 15557: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in 15557: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of 15557: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in 15557: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

15557 detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
  2. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  3. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  4. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  5. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  6. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  7. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  8. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  9. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  10. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  12. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.