Best Places19004, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 19004, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
19004 ranks 266th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 19004
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.
19004's strengths and weaknesses
Where 19004 ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of zip codes
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Household income$177,938 median, better than 98% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of zip codes
Where 19004 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 15% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,296 a month, better than only 16% of zip codes
- State infrastructureBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 21% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 19004
A household needs to earn about $194,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 19004 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $177,938; 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 19004's effective rate of 1.25%, 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 19004
19004's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 19004.
Who works in 19004, and how
Work in 19004 centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 59%
- Work from home 32%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in 19004
19004 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 80% of zip codes and more parkland per resident than 98% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 19004 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 19004, month by month
19004 sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of 19004
Philadelphia International sits about 10 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 14.8 million passengers in 2025, with 179 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 19004
Schools across 19004 average an A+, better than 99% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Merion El SchA+ · 90% proficient
- Cynwyd SchA+ · 89% proficient
- Belmont Hills El SchA+ · 82% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bala-cynwyd MsA+ · 77% proficient
- Welsh Valley MsA+ · 75% proficient
Top high schools
- Lower Merion HsA+ · 90% proficient
- Harriton ShsA+ · 89% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 19004 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
19004 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 19004 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 19004
Is 19004 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 19004 ranks 266th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on what local pay buys, good schools, and an educated workforce, and lowest on noise and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 19004 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $699,761. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $177,938 median income, cost of living beats 100% of zip codes.
Is 19004 safe?
19004 is safer than 15% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $443 per resident a year.
Compare 19004 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 19004. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 19004 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.
19004 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 19004: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 19004: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 19004: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 19004: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
19004 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.