Best PlacesChristiana, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Christiana, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Christiana ranks 11,864th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Christiana
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.
Christiana's strengths and weaknesses
Where Christiana ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 88% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of towns
Where Christiana ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,106 a month, better than only 16% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 18% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Christiana
A household needs to earn about $102,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Christiana home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $83,149, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Christiana's effective rate of 1.15%, 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 Christiana
Christiana runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Christiana.
Who works in Christiana, and how
Work in Christiana centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in Christiana
The coast is about 46 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Christiana, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Christiana, month by month
Christiana sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 32° | 26° |
| April | 62° | 53° | 44° |
| July | 84° | 76° | 68° |
| October | 66° | 57° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Christiana
The nearest airport, Lancaster, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 42 miles away.
The best schools in and around Christiana
Schools across Christiana average an A−, better than 87% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Bart-colerain El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Octorara El SchA · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- Solanco HsA+ · 85% proficient
- Oxford Area HsB+ · 53% proficient
- Octorara Area JshsB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Christiana school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Christiana 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 Christiana against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Christiana
Is Christiana a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Christiana ranks 11,864th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, big-city access, and fast internet, and lowest on education levels and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Christiana expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $373,543. The overall cost of living runs about 0% below the national average. Set against a $83,149 median income, cost of living beats 47% of towns.
Is Christiana safe?
Yes, Christiana is safer than 79% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $189 per resident a year.
Compare Christiana with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Christiana. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Christiana 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.
Christiana detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Christiana: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Christiana: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Christiana: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Christiana: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Christiana 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.