Best Places18433, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 18433, 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.
18433 ranks 10,426th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 18433
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.
18433's strengths and weaknesses
Where 18433 ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 83% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 83% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 80% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 74% of zip codes
Where 18433 ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 23% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 26% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 26% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 71 pleasant days a year, better than only 27% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 18433
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 18433 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,611, 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 18433's effective rate of 1.22%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 18433
18433 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 18433.
Who works in 18433, and how
Work in 18433 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 18433
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 18433.
What the weather is like in 18433, month by month
18433 sees roughly 71 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 18433
The nearest airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around 18433
Schools across 18433 average a B, better than 67% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Lackawanna Trail El CtrA− · 61% proficient
- Lakeland El Sch - Scott CampusB+ · 55% proficient
- Lakeland El Sch - Mayfield CampusB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Valley View MsB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Lakeland JshsB · 47% proficient
- Lackawanna Trail JshsC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 18433 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
18433 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 18433 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 18433
Is 18433 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 18433 ranks 10,426th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on health care access, clean air, and big-city access, and lowest on state infrastructure and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 18433 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $204,783. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $87,611 median income, cost of living beats 80% of zip codes.
Is 18433 safe?
18433 is safer than 46% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $282 per resident a year.
Compare 18433 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 18433. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 18433 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.
18433 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 18433: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 18433: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 18433: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 18433: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
18433 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.