Best Places17270, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 17270, 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.
17270 ranks 22,219th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 17270
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.
17270's strengths and weaknesses
Where 17270 ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of zip codes
- School gradeA, better than 93% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of zip codes
Where 17270 ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 10% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 17270
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 17270 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $61,090; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 17270's effective rate of 1.29%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 17270
17270 runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 17270.
Who works in 17270, and how
Work in 17270 centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 17270
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 17270.
What the weather is like in 17270, month by month
17270 sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of 17270
The nearest airport, Hagerstown Regional/Richard A Henson Field, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 65 miles away.
The best schools in and around 17270
Schools across 17270 average an A, better than 93% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Mountain View El SchA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- James Buchanan MsA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- James Buchanan HsA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 17270 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
17270 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 17270 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 17270
Is 17270 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 17270 ranks 22,219th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on few empty homes, good schools, and low disaster risk, and lowest on a weak job market and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 17270 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $245,500. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $61,090 median income, cost of living beats 17% of zip codes.
Is 17270 safe?
17270 is safer than 24% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $366 per resident a year.
Compare 17270 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 17270. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 17270 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.
17270 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 17270: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 17270: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 17270: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 17270: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
17270 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.