Best PlacesBig Pond, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Big Pond, 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.
Big Pond ranks 21,543rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Big Pond
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.
Big Pond's strengths and weaknesses
Where Big Pond ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 87% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 84% of towns
- QuietBetter than 79% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 77% of towns
Where Big Pond ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 11% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 14% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Big Pond
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Big Pond home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,011, 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 Big Pond'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 Big Pond
Big Pond runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Big Pond.
Who works in Big Pond, and how
Work in Big Pond centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Big Pond
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Big Pond.
What the weather is like in Big Pond, month by month
Big Pond sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 62° | 47° | 34° |
| July | 87° | 72° | 58° |
| October | 67° | 53° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Big Pond
The nearest airport, Elmira/Corning Regional, is about 21 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 155 miles away.
The best schools in and around Big Pond
Schools across Big Pond average an A−, better than 87% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Troy Intrmd SchA+ · 75% proficient
- Sru El SchB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Harlan Rowe MsB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Athens Area HsA · 73% proficient
- Troy Area JshsB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Big Pond school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Big Pond 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 Big Pond against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Big Pond
Is Big Pond a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Big Pond ranks 21,543rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, good schools, and clean air, and lowest on cell coverage and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Big Pond expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $234,007. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $73,011 median income, cost of living beats 32% of towns.
Is Big Pond safe?
Yes, Big Pond is safer than 90% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $153 per resident a year.
Compare Big Pond with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Big Pond. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Big Pond 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.
Big Pond detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Big Pond: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Big Pond: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Big Pond: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Big Pond: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Big Pond 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.