Best PlacesAvella, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Avella, 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.
Avella ranks 23,157th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Avella
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.
Avella's strengths and weaknesses
Where Avella ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 79% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 78% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 78% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 78% of towns
Where Avella ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 6% of towns
- Short commute36.5 minutes each way, better than only 10% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,005 a month, better than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Avella
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Avella home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,267, 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 Avella's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Avella
Avella runs older 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 Avella.
Who works in Avella, and how
Work in Avella centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Avella
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Avella.
What the weather is like in Avella, month by month
Avella sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Avella
Pittsburgh International sits about 20 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.8 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Avella
Schools across Avella average a B+, better than 78% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Trinity North El SchA · 70% proficient
- Fort Cherry El CtrA− · 61% proficient
- Claysville El SchA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mcguffey MsC− · 30% proficient
- Brooke Middle SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Avella Area JshsB+ · 57% proficient
- Fort Cherry JshsB+ · 52% proficient
- Mcguffey HsC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Avella school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Avella 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 Avella against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Avella
Is Avella a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Avella ranks 23,157th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, a stable housing market, and good schools, and lowest on a weak job market and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Avella expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $210,865. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $80,267 median income, cost of living beats 70% of towns.
Is Avella safe?
Yes, Avella is safer than 69% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $210 per resident a year.
Compare Avella with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Avella. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Avella 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.
Avella detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Avella: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Avella: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Avella: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Avella: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Avella 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.