Best Places19121, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 19121, 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.
19121 ranks 22,024th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 19121
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.
19121's strengths and weaknesses
Where 19121 ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 99% of zip codes
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 96% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 92% of zip codes
Where 19121 ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Household income$47,558 median, better than only 8% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 9% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 19121
A household needs to earn about $72,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 19121 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $47,558, 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 19121's effective rate of 0.69%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 19121
19121 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 19121.
Who works in 19121, and how
Work in 19121 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 40%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 45%
Life in 19121
19121 has more parkland per resident than 95% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 19121 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 19121, month by month
19121 sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 72° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of 19121
Philadelphia International sits about 8 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 19121
Schools across 19121 average a C, better than 47% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Morris Robert SchD+ · 25% proficient
- Duckrey Tanner SchD+ · 25% proficient
- Dick William SchD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Amy At MartinD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Carver HsA+ · 86% proficient
- Arts Academy At Benjamin RushA− · 65% proficient
- Vaux Hs: A Big Picture SchoolF · 3% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 19121 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
19121 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 19121 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 19121 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 15% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 19121
Is 19121 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 19121 ranks 22,024th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on walkability, transit, and big-city access, and lowest on taxes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 19121 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $278,332. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $47,558 median income, cost of living beats 6% of zip codes.
Is 19121 safe?
19121 is safer than 9% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $567 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 19121?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 27. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 16% of zip codes.
Is 19121 good for families?
Schools beat 47% of zip codes, crime safety beats 9%, and childcare runs $1,021 a month.
Compare 19121 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 19121. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 19121 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.
19121 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 19121: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 19121: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 19121: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 19121: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
19121 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.