Best Places17862, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 17862, 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.
17862 ranks 11,803rd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low crime.
The best neighborhoods in 17862
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.
17862's strengths and weaknesses
Where 17862 ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 83% of zip codes
- Short commute20.6 minutes each way, better than 82% of zip codes
- School gradeA−, better than 82% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 81% of zip codes
Where 17862 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 19% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 17862
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 17862 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,401, 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 17862'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 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 17862
17862 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 17862.
Who works in 17862, and how
Work in 17862 centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 17862
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 17862.
What the weather is like in 17862, month by month
17862 sees roughly 67 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 17862
The nearest airport, State College Regional, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 118 miles away.
The best schools in and around 17862
Schools across 17862 average an A−, better than 82% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Middleburg El SchA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mifflinburg Area MsA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Midd-west HsB+ · 58% proficient
- Mifflinburg Area ShsB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 17862 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
17862 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 17862 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 17862
Is 17862 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 17862 ranks 11,803rd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low crime, low disaster risk, and short commutes, and lowest on taxes and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 17862 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $224,682. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $69,401 median income, cost of living beats 38% of zip codes.
Is 17862 safe?
Yes, 17862 is safer than 87% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $177 per resident a year.
Compare 17862 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 17862. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 17862 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.
17862 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 17862: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 17862: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 17862: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 17862: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
17862 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.