Best Places17945, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 17945, 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.
17945 ranks 24,399th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on low disaster risk, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 17945
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.
17945's strengths and weaknesses
Where 17945 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 83% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$693 a month, better than 75% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 75% of zip codes
Where 17945 ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Household income$56,376 median, better than only 19% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 19% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 17945
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 17945 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,376, 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 17945's effective rate of 1.24%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 17945
17945 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 17945.
Who works in 17945, and how
Work in 17945 centers on retail trade and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 17945
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 17945.
What the weather is like in 17945, month by month
17945 sees roughly 69 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 17945
The nearest airport, Harrisburg International, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around 17945
Schools across 17945 average a B−, better than 56% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- North Schuylkill Elem SchB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- North Schuylkill JshsC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 17945 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
17945 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 17945 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 17945
Is 17945 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 17945 ranks 24,399th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, big-city access, and tree cover, and lowest on biking and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 17945 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $142,547. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $56,376 median income, cost of living beats 25% of zip codes.
Is 17945 safe?
17945 is safer than 25% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $373 per resident a year.
Compare 17945 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 17945. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 17945 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.
17945 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 17945: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 17945: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 17945: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 17945: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
17945 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.