Best PlacesBlain, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Blain, 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.
Blain ranks 16,992nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Blain
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.
Blain's strengths and weaknesses
Where Blain ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 94% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 91% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of towns
Where Blain ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 14% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 16% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Blain
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Blain home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,533, 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 Blain'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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Blain
Blain runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Blain.
Who works in Blain, and how
Work in Blain centers on agriculture & forestry and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Blain
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Blain.
What the weather is like in Blain, month by month
Blain sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 31° | 25° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 65° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Blain
The nearest airport, State College Regional, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 91 miles away.
The best schools in and around Blain
Schools across Blain average an A, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Blain El SchA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Perry MsA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- West Perry ShsA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Blain school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Blain 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 Blain against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Blain
Is Blain a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Blain ranks 16,992nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, good schools, and low disaster risk, and lowest on internet speeds and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Blain expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $178,534. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $63,533 median income, cost of living beats 30% of towns.
Is Blain safe?
Yes, Blain is safer than 68% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $209 per resident a year.
Compare Blain with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Blain. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Blain 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.
Blain detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Blain: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Blain: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Blain: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Blain: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Blain 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.