Best Places18617, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 18617, 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.
18617 ranks 28,720th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. Crime pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in 18617
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.
18617's strengths and weaknesses
Where 18617 ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 90% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 85% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 83% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than 80% of zip codes
Where 18617 ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Household income$47,032 median, better than only 8% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 18617
A household needs to earn about $24,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 18617 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $47,032, 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 18617's effective rate of 1.66%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 18617
18617 runs younger 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 18617.
Who works in 18617, and how
Work in 18617 centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in 18617
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 18617.
What the weather is like in 18617, month by month
18617 sees roughly 69 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 18617
The nearest airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 100 miles away.
The best schools in and around 18617
Schools across 18617 average a C−, better than 27% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Gna El CtrC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- Greater Nanticoke Area Ed CtrD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Northwest Area HsB · 50% proficient
- Greater Nanticoke Area ShsC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 18617 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
18617 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 18617 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 18617
Is 18617 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 18617 ranks 28,720th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on low disaster risk, tree cover, and big-city access, and lowest on crime and thin health care access. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 18617 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $80,947. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $47,032 median income, cost of living beats 20% of zip codes.
Is 18617 safe?
18617 is safer than 5% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $653 per resident a year.
Compare 18617 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 18617. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 18617 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.
18617 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 18617: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 18617: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 18617: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 18617: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
18617 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.