Best Places17214, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 17214, 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.
17214 ranks 10,089th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 17214
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.
17214's strengths and weaknesses
Where 17214 ranks high
- School gradeA, better than 94% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 85% of zip codes
Where 17214 ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 30% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 31% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 34% of zip codes
- Household income$65,460 median, better than only 34% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 17214
A household needs to earn about $88,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 17214 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $65,460, 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 17214's effective rate of 1.03%, 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 17214
17214 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 17214.
Who works in 17214, and how
Work in 17214 centers on transportation & warehousing and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 17214
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 17214.
What the weather is like in 17214, month by month
17214 sees roughly 88 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 29° | 23° |
| April | 63° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of 17214
The nearest airport, Hagerstown Regional/Richard A Henson Field, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 54 miles away.
The best schools in and around 17214
Schools across 17214 average an A, better than 94% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Hooverville El SchA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waynesboro Area MsB+ · 49% proficient
- Fairfield Area MsB− · 41% proficient
Top high schools
- Waynesboro Area ShsA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 17214 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
17214 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 17214 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 17214
Is 17214 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 17214 ranks 10,089th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on good schools, a strong job market, and civic engagement, and lowest on state infrastructure and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 17214 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $324,797. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $65,460 median income, cost of living beats 31% of zip codes.
Is 17214 safe?
17214 is safer than 44% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $283 per resident a year.
Compare 17214 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 17214. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 17214 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.
17214 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 17214: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 17214: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 17214: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 17214: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
17214 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.