Best PlacesCenter Valley, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Center Valley, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Center Valley ranks 66th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Center Valley
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.
Center Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Center Valley ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of towns
- Household income$161,506 median, better than 98% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of towns
Where Center Valley ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 16% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 23% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 28% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Center Valley
A household needs to earn about $150,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Center Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $161,506, 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 Center Valley's effective rate of 1.13%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Center Valley
Center Valley'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 Center Valley.
Who works in Center Valley, and how
Work in Center Valley centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 25%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Center Valley
Center Valley has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of towns and more parkland per resident than 93% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Center Valley and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Center Valley, month by month
Center Valley sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 24° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Center Valley
The nearest airport, Lehigh Valley International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 47 miles away.
The best schools in and around Center Valley
Schools across Center Valley average an A+, better than 99% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lincoln El SchA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southern Lehigh Intermediate SchA+ · 90% proficient
- Southern Lehigh MsA+ · 75% proficient
- Lower Macungie MsB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Southern Lehigh ShsA · 79% proficient
- Emmaus HsB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Center Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Center Valley 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 Center Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Center Valley
Is Center Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Center Valley ranks 66th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on good schools, what local pay buys, and high incomes, and lowest on noise and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Center Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $547,939. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $161,506 median income, cost of living beats 99% of towns.
Is Center Valley safe?
Yes, Center Valley is safer than 95% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $154 per resident a year.
Compare Center Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Center Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Center Valley 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.
Center Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Center Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Center Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Center Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Center Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Center Valley 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.