Best Places18343, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 18343, 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.
18343 ranks 15,274th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 18343
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.
18343's strengths and weaknesses
Where 18343 ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than 84% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 82% of zip codes
Where 18343 ranks low
- Short commute47.4 minutes each way, better than only 1% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 27% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 29% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 18343
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 18343 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $80,564; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 18343's effective rate of 1.23%, 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 18343
18343 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 18343.
Who works in 18343, and how
Work in 18343 centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in 18343
18343 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 98% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 18343 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 18343, month by month
18343 sees roughly 72 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 October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 43° |
Flying in and out of 18343
The nearest airport, Lehigh Valley International, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 51 miles away.
The best schools in and around 18343
Schools across 18343 average a B, better than 75% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Smithfield El SchB− · 43% proficient
- Knowlton Township Board Of EducationD+ · 23% proficient
- Belvidere Elementary SchoolD · 16% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bangor Area MsB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Bangor Area HsA · 73% proficient
- North Warren Regional SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 18343 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
18343 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 18343 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 18343
Is 18343 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 18343 ranks 15,274th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on big-city access, low crime, and heat safety, and lowest on long commutes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 18343 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $309,174. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $80,564 median income, cost of living beats 56% of zip codes.
Is 18343 safe?
Yes, 18343 is safer than 84% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $180 per resident a year.
Compare 18343 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 18343. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 18343 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.
18343 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 18343: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 18343: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 18343: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 18343: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
18343 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.