Best PlacesBenton, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Benton, 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.
Benton ranks 23,919th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on big-city access, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Benton
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.
Benton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Benton ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 88% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 82% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 79% of towns
- BikingBetter than 77% of towns
Where Benton ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 21% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 21% of towns
- Short commute31.4 minutes each way, better than only 27% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Benton
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Benton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,358, 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 Benton's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Benton
Benton 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 Benton.
Who works in Benton, and how
Work in Benton centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Benton
Benton has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Benton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Benton, month by month
Benton sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 22° |
| April | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 89° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Benton
The nearest airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 111 miles away.
The best schools in and around Benton
Schools across Benton average a B+, better than 77% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sullivan Co El SchA · 70% proficient
- Northwest Area Intermediate SchA · 70% proficient
- Carl G Renn El SchA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Benton Area MsC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Benton Area HsA− · 63% proficient
- Hughesville JshsB+ · 58% proficient
- Northwest Area HsB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Benton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Benton 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 Benton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Benton
Is Benton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Benton ranks 23,919th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, fast internet, and clean air, and lowest on state infrastructure and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Benton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $214,892. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $62,358 median income, cost of living beats 38% of towns.
Is Benton safe?
Benton is safer than 49% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $262 per resident a year.
Compare Benton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Benton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Benton 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.
Benton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Benton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Benton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Benton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Benton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Benton 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.