Best PlacesBeech Creek, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Beech Creek, 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.
Beech Creek ranks 17,204th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on low disaster risk, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Beech Creek
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.
Beech Creek's strengths and weaknesses
Where Beech Creek ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 80% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 78% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 77% of towns
Where Beech Creek ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 21% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 30% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 34% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Beech Creek
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Beech Creek home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,569, 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 Beech Creek's effective rate of 0.95%, 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 Beech Creek
Beech Creek 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 Beech Creek.
Who works in Beech Creek, and how
Work in Beech Creek centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Beech Creek
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Beech Creek.
What the weather is like in Beech Creek, month by month
Beech Creek sees roughly 83 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 29° | 23° |
| April | 61° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Beech Creek
The nearest airport, State College Regional, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 141 miles away.
The best schools in and around Beech Creek
Schools across Beech Creek average a B+, better than 78% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mountaintop Area El SchA+ · 73% proficient
- Mill Hall El SchA− · 60% proficient
- Liberty-curtin El SchB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central Mountain MsC · 34% proficient
- Bucktail Area MsD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Central Mountain HsA · 77% proficient
- Bucktail HsC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Beech Creek school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Beech Creek 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 Beech Creek against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Beech Creek
Is Beech Creek a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Beech Creek ranks 17,204th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, heat safety, and low crime, 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 Beech Creek expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $196,432. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $68,569 median income, cost of living beats 44% of towns.
Is Beech Creek safe?
Yes, Beech Creek is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $190 per resident a year.
Compare Beech Creek with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Beech Creek. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Beech Creek 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.
Beech Creek detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Beech Creek: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Beech Creek: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Beech Creek: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Beech Creek: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Beech Creek 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.