Best Places16503, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 16503, 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.
16503 ranks 28,545th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 16503
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.
16503's strengths and weaknesses
Where 16503 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 95% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 94% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 93% of zip codes
Where 16503 ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Household income$33,130 median, better than only 3% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 3% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 16503
A household needs to earn about $20,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 16503 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $33,130, 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 16503's effective rate of 1.86%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 16503
16503 runs younger 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 16503.
Who works in 16503, and how
Work in 16503 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 18%
Life in 16503
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 16503.
What the weather is like in 16503, month by month
16503 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 16503
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 105 miles away.
The best schools in and around 16503
Schools across 16503 average a C, better than 45% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Joanna Connell SchC · 35% proficient
- Pfeiffer-burleigh SchD− · 15% proficient
- Mckinley El SchD− · 15% proficient
Top middle schools
- Woodrow Wilson MsD− · 15% proficient
- East MsF · 7% proficient
Top high schools
- Northwest Pa Collegiate AcademyA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 16503 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
16503 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 16503 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 16503
Is 16503 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 16503 ranks 28,545th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, walkability, and cell coverage, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 16503 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $66,225. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $33,130 median income, cost of living beats 3% of zip codes.
Is 16503 safe?
16503 is safer than 3% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $722 per resident a year.
Compare 16503 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 16503. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 16503 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.
16503 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 16503: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 16503: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 16503: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 16503: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
16503 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.