Best PlacesBuffington, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Buffington, 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.
Buffington ranks 11,904th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Buffington
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.
Buffington's strengths and weaknesses
Where Buffington ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Short commute19.4 minutes each way, better than 90% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 88% of towns
Where Buffington ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 29% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 29% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Buffington
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Buffington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,739, 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 Buffington's effective rate of 1.04%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Buffington
Buffington 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 Buffington.
Who works in Buffington, and how
Work in Buffington centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Buffington
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Buffington.
What the weather is like in Buffington, month by month
Buffington sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs April through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Buffington
The nearest airport, Morgantown Municipal/Walter L Bill Hart Field, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 44 miles away.
The best schools in and around Buffington
Schools across Buffington average an A−, better than 88% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ben Franklin SchA− · 60% proficient
- George J Plava El SchC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Albert Gallatin North MsC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Uniontown Area ShsA · 70% proficient
- Albert Gallatin Area ShsB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Buffington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Buffington 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 Buffington against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Buffington
Is Buffington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Buffington ranks 11,904th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, few empty homes, and low disaster risk, and lowest on a weak job market and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Buffington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $141,000. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $77,739 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is Buffington safe?
Buffington is safer than 43% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $273 per resident a year.
Compare Buffington with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Buffington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Buffington 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.
Buffington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Buffington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Buffington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Buffington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Buffington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Buffington 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.