Best Places18214, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 18214, 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.
18214 ranks 24,134th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. A weak job market pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in 18214
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.
18214's strengths and weaknesses
Where 18214 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$655 a month, better than 80% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than 71% of zip codes
Where 18214 ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 12% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 17% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 18214
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 18214 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,085, 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 18214's effective rate of 1.52%, 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 18214
18214 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 18214.
Who works in 18214, and how
Work in 18214 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 18214
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 18214.
What the weather is like in 18214, month by month
18214 sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 42° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of 18214
The nearest airport, Lehigh Valley International, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 78 miles away.
The best schools in and around 18214
Schools across 18214 average a C+, better than 54% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Tamaqua El SchA+ · 75% proficient
- Mahanoy Area El SchC+ · 36% proficient
Top middle schools
- Tamaqua Area MsB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Tamaqua Area ShsA · 75% proficient
- Mahanoy Area JshsD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 18214 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
18214 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 18214 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 18214
Is 18214 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 18214 ranks 24,134th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, big-city access, and tree cover, and lowest on a weak job market and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 18214 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $199,594. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $79,085 median income, cost of living beats 61% of zip codes.
Is 18214 safe?
18214 is safer than 31% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $328 per resident a year.
Compare 18214 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 18214. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 18214 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.
18214 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 18214: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 18214: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 18214: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 18214: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
18214 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.