Best Places17861, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 17861, 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.
17861 ranks 20,936th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. Education levels pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on few empty homes.
The best neighborhoods in 17861
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.
17861's strengths and weaknesses
Where 17861 ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 83% of zip codes
- School gradeA−, better than 82% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 78% of zip codes
Where 17861 ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Household income$52,250 median, better than only 13% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 17861
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 17861 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,250, 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 17861's effective rate of 1.02%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 17861
17861 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 17861.
Who works in 17861, and how
Work in 17861 centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 17861
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 17861.
What the weather is like in 17861, month by month
17861 sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 38° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of 17861
The nearest airport, State College Regional, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 112 miles away.
The best schools in and around 17861
Schools across 17861 average an A−, better than 82% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Middleburg El SchA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Midd-west HsB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 17861 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
17861 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 17861 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 17861
Is 17861 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 17861 ranks 20,936th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on few empty homes, low disaster risk, and good schools, and lowest on education levels and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 17861 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $185,600. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $52,250 median income, cost of living beats 15% of zip codes.
Is 17861 safe?
17861 is safer than 53% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $255 per resident a year.
Compare 17861 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 17861. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 17861 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.
17861 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 17861: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 17861: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 17861: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 17861: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
17861 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.