Best PlacesBear Rocks, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bear Rocks, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Bear Rocks ranks 12,685th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bear Rocks
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 Rocks' strengths and weaknesses
Where Bear Rocks ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 92% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of towns
Where Bear Rocks ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 23% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bear Rocks
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bear Rocks home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,477, 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 Rocks' effective rate of 1.06%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Bear Rocks
Bear Rocks 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 Bear Rocks.
Who works in Bear Rocks, and how
Work in Bear Rocks centers on manufacturing and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Bear Rocks
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bear Rocks.
What the weather is like in Bear Rocks, month by month
Bear Rocks sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 31° | 24° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 65° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Bear Rocks
The nearest airport, Arnold Palmer Regional, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 47 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bear Rocks
Schools across Bear Rocks average a B−, better than 63% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bullskin El SchA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Connellsville Area MsC− · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Connellsville Area ShsB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bear Rocks school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bear Rocks 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 Rocks against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bear Rocks
Is Bear Rocks a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bear Rocks ranks 12,685th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, low disaster risk, and civic engagement, and lowest on biking and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bear Rocks expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $153,900. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $71,477 median income, cost of living beats 56% of towns.
Is Bear Rocks safe?
Yes, Bear Rocks is safer than 92% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $147 per resident a year.
Compare Bear Rocks with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bear Rocks. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bear Rocks 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 Rocks detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bear Rocks: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bear Rocks: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bear Rocks: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bear Rocks: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bear Rocks 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.