Best PlacesBear, DE Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bear, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bear ranks 806th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bear
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.
Bear's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bear ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 92% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 88% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 80% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 79% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 78% of cities
Where Bear ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 13% of cities
- School gradeC−, better than only 18% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 24% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 25% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Bear
A household needs to earn about $99,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bear home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $117,732, 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 Bear's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bear
Bear'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 Bear.
Who works in Bear, and how
Work in Bear centers on health care & social and finance & insurance. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Bear
The coast is about 18 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Bear, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Bear, month by month
Bear sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 35° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Bear
The nearest airport, New Castle, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 30 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bear
Schools across Bear average a C−, better than 18% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Loss (olive B.) Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Cedar Lane Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Wilbur (kathleen H.) ElementaryC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waters (alfred G.) Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Bedford (gunning) Middle SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Shue-medill Middle SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top high schools
- Appoquinimink High SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Christiana High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Penn (william) High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bear school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bear 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 Bear against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Bear suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 79% of cities and 21% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Bear
Is Bear a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bear ranks 806th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state infrastructure, few empty homes, and low taxes, and lowest on the weather and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bear expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $381,211. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $117,732 median income, cost of living beats 79% of cities.
Is Bear safe?
Bear is safer than 41% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $317 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bear?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 26. That works out to about 60 pleasant days a year, more than 8% of cities.
Is Bear good for families?
Schools beat 18% of cities, crime safety beats 41%, and childcare runs $1,109 a month.
Compare Bear with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bear. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bear 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.
Bear detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bear: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bear: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bear: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bear: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bear 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.