Best Places16826, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 16826, 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.
16826 ranks 17,532nd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. Long commutes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on heat safety.
The best neighborhoods in 16826
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.
16826's strengths and weaknesses
Where 16826 ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 78% of zip codes
- School gradeB+, better than 77% of zip codes
Where 16826 ranks low
- Short commute36.1 minutes each way, better than only 9% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 19% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 16826
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 16826 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,854, 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 16826's effective rate of 0.87%, 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.
Who lives in 16826
16826 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 16826.
Who works in 16826, and how
Work in 16826 centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 16826
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 16826.
What the weather is like in 16826, month by month
16826 sees roughly 82 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 16826
The nearest airport, State College Regional, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 139 miles away.
The best schools in and around 16826
Schools across 16826 average a B+, better than 77% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Liberty-curtin El SchB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central Mountain MsC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Central Mountain HsA · 77% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 16826 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
16826 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 16826 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 16826
Is 16826 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 16826 ranks 17,532nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on heat safety, low disaster risk, and tree cover, and lowest on long commutes and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 16826 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $166,413. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $69,854 median income, cost of living beats 41% of zip codes.
Is 16826 safe?
Yes, 16826 is safer than 60% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $250 per resident a year.
Compare 16826 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 16826. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 16826 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.
16826 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 16826: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 16826: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 16826: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 16826: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
16826 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.