Best PlacesCameron County, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cameron County, 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.
Cameron County ranks 2,327th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Cameron County
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.
Cameron County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cameron County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 89% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of counties
Where Cameron County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Household income$50,814 median, better than only 10% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cameron County
A household needs to earn about $27,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cameron County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,814, 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 Cameron County's effective rate of 1.42%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cameron County
Cameron County 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 Cameron County.
Who works in Cameron County, and how
Work in Cameron County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Cameron County
Cameron County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Cameron County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cameron County growing, and who is moving in?
Cameron County has lost about 10% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Elk County, PA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cameron County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cameron County, month by month
Cameron County sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 17° |
| April | 59° | 46° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 69° | 56° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Cameron County
The nearest airport, Bradford Regional, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 125 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cameron County
Schools across Cameron County average a B−, better than 69% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Bennetts Valley El SchA+ · 75% proficient
- Mountaintop Area El SchA+ · 73% proficient
- Woodland El SchA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- St Marys Area MsB+ · 50% proficient
- Bucktail Area MsD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- St Marys Area ShsA+ · 80% proficient
- Bucktail HsC+ · 40% proficient
- Cameron County JshsC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cameron County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cameron County 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 Cameron County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Cameron County
Is Cameron County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cameron County ranks 2,327th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, low disaster risk, and tree cover, and lowest on a weak job market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cameron County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $95,444. The overall cost of living runs about 26% below the national average. Set against a $50,814 median income, cost of living beats 27% of counties.
Is Cameron County safe?
Cameron County is safer than 24% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $371 per resident a year.
Compare Cameron County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cameron County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cameron County 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.
Cameron County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cameron County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cameron County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cameron County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cameron County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cameron County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.