Best Places17534, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 17534, 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.
17534 ranks 9,363rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 17534
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.
17534's strengths and weaknesses
Where 17534 ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of zip codes
Where 17534 ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 56 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 24% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 17534
A household needs to earn about $123,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 17534 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $82,596, 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 17534's effective rate of 0.86%, 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 17534
17534 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 17534.
Who works in 17534, and how
Work in 17534 centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 56%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 22%
Life in 17534
17534 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 99% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 17534 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 17534, month by month
17534 sees roughly 56 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 41° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of 17534
The nearest airport, Lancaster, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 47 miles away.
The best schools in and around 17534
Schools across 17534 average a C+, better than 52% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Paradise El SchB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pequea Valley Intrmd SchB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Pequea Valley HsD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 17534 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
17534 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 17534 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 17534
Is 17534 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 17534 ranks 9,363rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on walkability, fast internet, and cell coverage, and lowest on education levels and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 17534 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $467,066. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $82,596 median income, cost of living beats 51% of zip codes.
Is 17534 safe?
17534 is safer than 29% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $337 per resident a year.
Compare 17534 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 17534. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 17534 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.
17534 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 17534: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 17534: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 17534: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 17534: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
17534 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.