Best Places18634, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 18634, 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.
18634 ranks 18,832nd of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 18634
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.
18634's strengths and weaknesses
Where 18634 ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 83% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 77% of zip codes
Where 18634 ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 20% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 18634
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 18634 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,511, 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 18634's effective rate of 1.57%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 18634
18634's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 18634.
Who works in 18634, and how
Work in 18634 centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in 18634
18634 has more parkland per resident than 74% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 18634 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 18634, month by month
18634 sees roughly 68 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 18634
The nearest airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 100 miles away.
The best schools in and around 18634
Schools across 18634 average a C, better than 33% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Northwest Area Intermediate SchA · 70% proficient
- Gna El CtrC · 34% proficient
- Hanover Area Memorial El SchD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Greater Nanticoke Area Ed CtrD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Lake-lehman JshsB+ · 55% proficient
- Hanover Area JshsC+ · 37% proficient
- Greater Nanticoke Area ShsC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 18634 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
18634 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 18634 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 18634
Is 18634 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 18634 ranks 18,832nd of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on walkability, big-city access, and fast internet, and lowest on property taxes and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 18634 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $111,805. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $60,511 median income, cost of living beats 36% of zip codes.
Is 18634 safe?
18634 is safer than 54% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $256 per resident a year.
Compare 18634 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 18634. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 18634 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.
18634 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 18634: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 18634: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 18634: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 18634: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
18634 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.