Best PlacesBedford County, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Bedford County, 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.
Bedford County ranks 1,209th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bedford 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.
Bedford County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bedford County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 91% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 91% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 85% of counties
Where Bedford County ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 16% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 23% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 27% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Bedford County
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bedford County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,692, 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 Bedford County's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 Bedford County
Bedford County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bedford County.
Who works in Bedford County, and how
Work in Bedford County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Bedford County
Bedford County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 65% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Bedford County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Bedford County growing, and who is moving in?
Bedford County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Altoona, PA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Bedford County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Bedford County, month by month
Bedford County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 86° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Bedford County
The nearest airport, Altoona/Blair County, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bedford County
Schools across Bedford County average an A−, better than 91% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Northern Bedford Co El SchA+ · 95% proficient
- Tussey Mountain ElA+ · 80% proficient
- Bedford El SchA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northern Bedford County MsA · 65% proficient
- Chestnut Ridge MsA− · 58% proficient
- Bedford MsB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Northern Bedford County HsA+ · 95% proficient
- Central HsA+ · 95% proficient
- Bedford ShsA · 72% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bedford County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bedford 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 Bedford County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Bedford County suits
Common questions about living in Bedford County
Is Bedford County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bedford County ranks 1,209th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, tree cover, and good schools, and lowest on state infrastructure and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bedford County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $187,684. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $61,692 median income, cost of living beats 36% of counties.
Is Bedford County safe?
Yes, Bedford County is safer than 86% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $216 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Bedford County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 21. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 34% of counties.
Is Bedford County good for families?
Schools beat 91% of counties, crime safety beats 86%, and childcare runs $663 a month.
Compare Bedford County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bedford County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bedford 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.
Bedford County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bedford County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bedford County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bedford County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bedford County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bedford 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.