Best PlacesAdams County, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Adams County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Adams County ranks 488th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $85,979, everyday costs sit below the national average, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are state infrastructure, taxes, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Adams County
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.
The best areas in Adams County
The parts of Adams County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Carroll Valley & Fairfield
Tree cover is thicker, more households have young kids, and crime runs lower.
New Oxford
Fewer homes sit empty, though fewer adults hold degrees.
East Berlin
It is quieter, though streets are more car-dependent.
Gettysburg
Biking is better and commutes are shorter.
Hanover, Littlestown & McSherrystown
Prices have run up less.
Biglerville
Local pay stretches further, though fewer residents vote.
York Springs
Incomes run lower and health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Adams County run from about the 15th to the 85th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Adams County's strengths and weaknesses
Adams County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Big-city access, low crime, and few empty homes carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. State infrastructure, taxes, and property taxes hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Adams County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 88% of counties
- Household income$85,979 median, better than 83% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 82% of counties
Where Adams County ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 15% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 20% of counties
- Cheap childcare$947 a month, better than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Adams County
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Adams County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $85,979, 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 Adams County'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, 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 Adams County
Adams County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Adams County.
Who works in Adams County, and how
Work in Adams County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Adams County
Adams County has less parkland per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Adams County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Adams County growing, and who is moving in?
Adams County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from York, PA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Adams County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Adams County, month by month
Adams County sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 32° | 21° |
| April | 67° | 53° | 39° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 70° | 57° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Adams County
The nearest airport, Harrisburg International, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around Adams County
Schools across Adams County average a B+, better than 82% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Paradise El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- West Manheim El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Park Hills El SchA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Upper Adams Intrmdt SchA+ · 70% proficient
- Spring Grove Area MsA · 60% proficient
- Conewago Valley Intrmd SchA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Spring Grove Area HsA+ · 90% proficient
- Bermudian Springs HsA+ · 84% proficient
- Fairfield Area HsA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Adams County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Adams County 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 Adams County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Adams County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 76% of counties and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Adams County
Is Adams County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Adams County ranks 488th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, low crime, and few empty homes, and lowest on state infrastructure and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Adams County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $275,726. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $85,979 median income, cost of living beats 76% of counties.
Is Adams County safe?
Yes, Adams County is safer than 95% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $186 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Adams County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 21. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 20% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Adams County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Carroll Valley & Fairfield, New Oxford, and East Berlin. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Adams County good for families?
Schools beat 82% of counties, crime safety beats 95%, and childcare runs $947 a month.
Is Adams County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 76% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 58% of counties. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Adams County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Adams County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Adams County 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.
Adams County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Adams County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Adams County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Adams County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Adams County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Adams County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.