Best Places16803, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 16803, 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.
16803 ranks 2,460th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on population health by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 16803
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.
16803's strengths and weaknesses
Where 16803 ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of zip codes
- School gradeA+, better than 98% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 96% of zip codes
Where 16803 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,135 a month, better than only 22% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 23% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 26% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 16803
A household needs to earn about $120,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 16803 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $83,884, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 16803's effective rate of 1.00%, 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 16803
16803 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 16803.
Who works in 16803, and how
Work in 16803 centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 61%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 19%
Life in 16803
16803 has more parkland per resident than 97% of zip codes and more late-night spots per resident than 75% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 16803 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 16803, month by month
16803 sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 29° | 23° |
| April | 61° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 16803
The nearest airport, State College Regional, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around 16803
Schools across 16803 average an A+, better than 98% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Ferguson Twp El SchA+ · 95% proficient
- Gray's Woods El SchA+ · 95% proficient
- Radio Park El SchA+ · 95% proficient
Top middle schools
- Park Forest MsA+ · 70% proficient
- Mount Nittany MsA− · 55% proficient
- Bellefonte Area MsB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- State College Area HsA+ · 80% proficient
- Bellefonte Area HsA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 16803 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
16803 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 16803 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 16803 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 20% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 16803
Is 16803 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 16803 ranks 2,460th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on population health, an educated workforce, and good schools, and lowest on taxes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 16803 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $448,445. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $83,884 median income, cost of living beats 65% of zip codes.
Is 16803 safe?
16803 is safer than 36% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $320 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 16803?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 23. That works out to about 84 pleasant days a year, more than 49% of zip codes.
Is 16803 good for families?
Schools beat 98% of zip codes, crime safety beats 36%, and childcare runs $1,135 a month.
Compare 16803 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 16803. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 16803 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.
16803 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 16803: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 16803: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 16803: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 16803: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
16803 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.