Best Places18202, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 18202, 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.
18202 ranks 25,059th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 18202
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.
18202's strengths and weaknesses
Where 18202 ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 79% of zip codes
Where 18202 ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Household income$51,751 median, better than only 12% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 17% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 18202
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 18202 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,751, 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 18202's effective rate of 1.13%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 18202
18202 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 18202.
Who works in 18202, and how
Work in 18202 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 18202
18202 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 87% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 70% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 18202 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 18202, month by month
18202 sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 18202
The nearest airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around 18202
Schools across 18202 average a C−, better than 28% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Drums El/msB− · 42% proficient
- Valley El/msC+ · 39% proficient
- Freeland El/msC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Maple Manor El/msD · 19% proficient
- Hazleton El/msD− · 14% proficient
Top high schools
- Hazleton Area HsC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 18202 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
18202 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 18202 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 18202
Is 18202 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 18202 ranks 25,059th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on walkability, big-city access, and low disaster risk, and lowest on an overheated housing market and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 18202 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $184,807. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $51,751 median income, cost of living beats 11% of zip codes.
Is 18202 safe?
18202 is safer than 28% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $365 per resident a year.
Compare 18202 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 18202. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 18202 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.
18202 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 18202: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 18202: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 18202: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 18202: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
18202 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.