Best Places18426, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 18426, 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.
18426 ranks 17,155th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 18426
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.
18426's strengths and weaknesses
Where 18426 ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 98% of zip codes
- School gradeA−, better than 92% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of zip codes
Where 18426 ranks low
- Short commute42.1 minutes each way, better than only 3% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 18426
A household needs to earn about $79,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 18426 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $68,400, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 18426's effective rate of 0.99%, 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 18426
18426 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 18426.
Who works in 18426, and how
Work in 18426 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 18426
18426 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 18426 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 18426, month by month
18426 sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 17° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 81° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of 18426
The nearest airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 73 miles away.
The best schools in and around 18426
Schools across 18426 average an A−, better than 92% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Wallenpaupack North Intrmd SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Wallenpaupack South El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Evergreen El SchA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wallenpaupack Area MsB · 45% proficient
- Western Wayne MsB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Wallenpaupack Area HsA · 75% proficient
- Western Wayne HsA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 18426 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
18426 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 18426 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 18426
Is 18426 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 18426 ranks 17,155th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on tree cover, good schools, and big-city access, and lowest on long commutes and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 18426 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $295,850. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $68,400 median income, cost of living beats 35% of zip codes.
Is 18426 safe?
Yes, 18426 is safer than 69% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $229 per resident a year.
Compare 18426 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 18426. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 18426 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.
18426 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 18426: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 18426: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 18426: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 18426: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
18426 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.