Best PlacesCarlisle, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Carlisle, 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.
Carlisle ranks 822nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. The weather pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on low disaster risk.
The best neighborhoods in Carlisle
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.
Carlisle's strengths and weaknesses
Where Carlisle ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of cities
- Short commute19.7 minutes each way, better than 88% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than 85% of cities
- School gradeB+, better than 79% of cities
Where Carlisle ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 21% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 28% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Carlisle
A household needs to earn about $73,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Carlisle home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,620, 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 Carlisle's effective rate of 1.24%, 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 Carlisle
Carlisle 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 Carlisle.
Who works in Carlisle, and how
Work in Carlisle centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Carlisle
Carlisle has more restaurants and bars per resident than 79% of cities and more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Carlisle and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Carlisle, month by month
Carlisle sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 69° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 72° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Carlisle
The nearest airport, Harrisburg International, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 76 miles away.
The best schools in and around Carlisle
Schools across Carlisle average a B+, better than 79% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Green Ridge El SchA+ · 77% proficient
- Silver Spring El SchA+ · 76% proficient
- Oak Flat El SchA · 72% proficient
Top middle schools
- Eagle View MsA · 60% proficient
- Yellow Breeches MsB+ · 50% proficient
- Lamberton MsB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Carlisle Area HsA · 75% proficient
- Boiling Springs HsA− · 65% proficient
- Cumberland Valley HsA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Carlisle school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Carlisle 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 Carlisle against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Carlisle suits
Common questions about living in Carlisle
Is Carlisle a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Carlisle ranks 822nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low disaster risk, short commutes, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on the weather and transit. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Carlisle expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $261,758. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $82,620 median income, cost of living beats 39% of cities.
Is Carlisle safe?
Yes, Carlisle is safer than 85% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $189 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Carlisle?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 25. That works out to about 61 pleasant days a year, more than 10% of cities.
Is Carlisle good for families?
Schools beat 79% of cities, crime safety beats 85%, and childcare runs $1,031 a month.
Compare Carlisle with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Carlisle. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Carlisle 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.
Carlisle detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Carlisle: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Carlisle: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Carlisle: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Carlisle: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Carlisle 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.