Best Places16426, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 16426, 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.
16426 ranks 6,884th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
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The best neighborhoods in 16426
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.
16426's strengths and weaknesses
Where 16426 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of zip codes
- School gradeA, better than 90% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 78% of zip codes
- Short commute21.3 minutes each way, better than 79% of zip codes
Where 16426 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 30% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 78 pleasant days a year, better than only 42% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 40% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 46% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 29% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 16426
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 16426 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,925, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.7% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-08-20 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 16426's effective rate of 1.08%, 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 16426
16426 runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 16426.
Who works in 16426, and how
Work in 16426 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 16426
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 16426.
What the weather is like in 16426, month by month
16426 sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 30° | 23° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 48° |
Flying in and out of 16426
The nearest airport, Erie International/Tom Ridge Field, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cleveland-Hopkins International, about 97 miles away.
The best schools in and around 16426
Schools across 16426 average an A, better than 90% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Mill Village El SchA · 72% proficient
- Mckean El SchA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- James W Parker MsA− · 56% proficient
- Fort Leboeuf MsB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- General Mclane HsA · 72% proficient
- Fort Leboeuf ShsA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 16426 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
16426 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 16426 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 16426
Is 16426 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 16426 ranks 6,884th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, health care access, and good schools, and lowest on noise and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 16426 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $247,560. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $81,925 median income, cost of living beats 67% of zip codes.
Is 16426 safe?
Yes, 16426 is safer than 78% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $277 per resident a year.
Compare 16426 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 16426. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 16426 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.
16426 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 16426: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 16426: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 16426: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 16426: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
16426 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.