Best PlacesBriar Creek, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Briar Creek, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Briar Creek ranks 25,828th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Briar 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.
Briar Creek's strengths and weaknesses
Where Briar Creek ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 90% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 84% of towns
- BikingBetter than 84% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 83% of towns
Where Briar Creek ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 18% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Household income$55,766 median, better than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Briar Creek
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Briar Creek home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,766, 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 Briar Creek's effective rate of 1.05%, 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 Briar Creek
Briar Creek's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Briar Creek.
Who works in Briar Creek, and how
Work in Briar Creek centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Briar Creek
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Briar Creek.
What the weather is like in Briar Creek, month by month
Briar Creek sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 38° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Briar Creek
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 98 miles away.
The best schools in and around Briar Creek
Schools across Briar Creek average a B+, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Central Columbia El SchA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central Columbia MsA · 66% proficient
- Berwick Area MsC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Central Columbia ShsA+ · 83% proficient
- Berwick Area HsA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Briar Creek school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Briar 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 Briar Creek against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Briar Creek
Is Briar Creek a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Briar Creek ranks 25,828th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, big-city access, and good schools, and lowest on a weak job market and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Briar Creek expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $160,000. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $55,766 median income, cost of living beats 21% of towns.
Is Briar Creek safe?
Yes, Briar Creek is safer than 72% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $199 per resident a year.
Compare Briar Creek with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Briar Creek. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Briar 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.
Briar Creek detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Briar Creek: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Briar Creek: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Briar Creek: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Briar Creek: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Briar 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.