Best PlacesChambersburg, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Chambersburg metro, 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.
Photo by the photographer, via wiki
Chambersburg ranks 111th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on few empty homes and good schools. The weaker spots are biking, transit, and state infrastructure.
The best neighborhoods in the Chambersburg metro
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.
The best areas in Chambersburg
The towns and districts of the Chambersburg metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Greencastle & Mercersburg
Crime runs lower, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Shippensburg
Schools score higher, though it is noisier.
Waynesboro
Streets are more walkable.
St. Thomas
Tree cover is thicker and more households have young kids.
Fayetteville
Health care is easier to reach, though more homes sit empty.
Downtown Chambersburg
Biking is better and commutes are shorter.
Scores across Chambersburg run from about the 18th to the 93rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Chambersburg's strengths and weaknesses
Chambersburg lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Few empty homes, good schools, and low disaster risk carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Biking, transit, and state infrastructure hold the score down. That one depends almost entirely on which part you pick, which is what the map below settles.
Where Chambersburg ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 89% of metro areas
- School gradeB+, better than 85% of metro areas
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of metro areas
- Voter turnoutBetter than 85% of metro areas
- Big-city accessBetter than 85% of metro areas
Where Chambersburg ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 6% of metro areas
- TransitBetter than only 13% of metro areas
- State infrastructureBetter than only 15% of metro areas
- Nice weatherabout 70 pleasant days a year, better than only 23% of metro areas
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 24% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Chambersburg
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Chambersburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,640, 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 Chambersburg's effective rate of 1.06%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Chambersburg
Chambersburg runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Chambersburg.
Who works in Chambersburg, and how
Work in Chambersburg centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Chambersburg
Chambersburg has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most metro areas and less parkland per resident than most metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Chambersburg and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Chambersburg growing, and who is moving in?
Chambersburg has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Harrisburg, PA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Chambersburg go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Chambersburg, month by month
Chambersburg sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 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 | 68° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 68° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Chambersburg
The nearest airport, Hagerstown Regional/Richard A Henson Field, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Washington Dulles International, about 69 miles away.
The best schools in and around Chambersburg
Schools across Chambersburg average a B+, better than 85% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Shippensburg Intrm SchA+ · 81% proficient
- Mountain View El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Mowrey El SchA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- James Buchanan MsA− · 55% proficient
- Greencastle-antrim MsA− · 53% proficient
- Chambersburg Area Ms - NorthB− · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Shippensburg Area ShsA+ · 85% proficient
- Waynesboro Area ShsA+ · 80% proficient
- James Buchanan HsA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Chambersburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Chambersburg 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 Chambersburg against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Chambersburg suits
Common questions about living in Chambersburg
Is Chambersburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Chambersburg ranks 111th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on few empty homes, good schools, and low disaster risk, and lowest on biking and transit. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Chambersburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $252,545. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $82,640 median income, cost of living beats 51% of metro areas.
Is Chambersburg safe?
Yes, Chambersburg is safer than 84% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $223 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Chambersburg?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 25. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 23% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Chambersburg?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Greencastle & Mercersburg, Shippensburg, and Waynesboro. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Chambersburg good for families?
Schools beat 85% of metro areas, crime safety beats 84%, and childcare runs $751 a month.
Is Chambersburg good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 51% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 28% of metro areas. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Chambersburg with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Chambersburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Chambersburg 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.
Chambersburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Chambersburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Chambersburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Chambersburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Chambersburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Chambersburg 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.