Best Places15940, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 15940, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
15940 ranks 8,821st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 15940
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.
15940's strengths and weaknesses
Where 15940 ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$613 a month, better than 84% of zip codes
Where 15940 ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 30% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than only 35% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 36% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 15940
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 15940 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $86,142, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
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 15940's effective rate of 0.88%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 15940
15940 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 15940.
Who works in 15940, and how
Work in 15940 centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 14%
Life in 15940
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 15940.
What the weather is like in 15940, month by month
15940 sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 27° | 20° |
| April | 61° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 81° | 71° | 62° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 44° |
Flying in and out of 15940
The nearest airport, John Murtha Johnstown/Cambria County, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around 15940
Schools across 15940 average a B+, better than 77% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Cambria Heights El SchA− · 55% proficient
- Penn Cambria Intrmd SchB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Penn Cambria MsB− · 41% proficient
- Cambria Heights MsB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Central Cambria HsA · 73% proficient
- Cambria Heights ShsA− · 67% proficient
- Penn Cambria HsA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 15940 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
15940 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 15940 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 15940
Is 15940 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 15940 ranks 8,821st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on heat safety, low disaster risk, and population health, and lowest on civic engagement and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 15940 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $232,263. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $86,142 median income, cost of living beats 43% of zip codes.
Is 15940 safe?
Yes, 15940 is safer than 55% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $250 per resident a year.
Compare 15940 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 15940. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 15940 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.
15940 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 15940: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 15940: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 15940: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 15940: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
15940 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- 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.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.