Best Places17946, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 17946, 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.
17946 ranks 10,861st of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 17946
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.
17946's strengths and weaknesses
Where 17946 ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 93% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 84% of zip codes
Where 17946 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 20% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than only 20% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 17946
A household needs to earn about $16,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 17946 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,364, 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 17946's effective rate of 1.70%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in 17946
17946 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 17946.
Who works in 17946, and how
Work in 17946 centers on construction and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 97%
- Work from home 1%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 17946
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 17946.
What the weather is like in 17946, month by month
17946 sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 31° | 22° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 17946
The nearest airport, Lehigh Valley International, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around 17946
Schools across 17946 average a C+, better than 48% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Shenandoah Valley El SchB+ · 55% proficient
- North Schuylkill Elem SchB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- North Schuylkill JshsC+ · 39% proficient
- Shenandoah Valley JshsC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 17946 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
17946 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 17946 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 17946
Is 17946 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 17946 ranks 10,861st of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on a strong job market, tree cover, and quiet, and lowest on property taxes and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 17946 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $55,000. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $76,364 median income, cost of living beats 61% of zip codes.
Is 17946 safe?
17946 is safer than 27% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $347 per resident a year.
Compare 17946 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 17946. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 17946 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.
17946 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 17946: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 17946: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 17946: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 17946: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
17946 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.