Best PlacesClarence, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Clarence, 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.
Clarence ranks 18,610th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Clarence
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.
Clarence's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clarence ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 89% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 81% of towns
Where Clarence ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,135 a month, better than only 15% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Short commute33.0 minutes each way, better than only 20% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Clarence
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clarence home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,829, 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 Clarence's effective rate of 0.84%, 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 Clarence
Clarence runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Clarence.
Who works in Clarence, and how
Work in Clarence centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Clarence
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Clarence.
What the weather is like in Clarence, month by month
Clarence sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 29° | 23° |
| April | 61° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Clarence
The nearest airport, State College Regional, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 126 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clarence
Schools across Clarence average an A−, better than 89% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mountaintop Area El SchA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Branch MsA− · 55% proficient
- Bellefonte Area MsB · 46% proficient
- Central Mountain MsC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- West Branch Area HsA+ · 95% proficient
- Bald Eagle Area JshsB+ · 52% proficient
- Bucktail HsC+ · 40% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clarence school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clarence 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 Clarence against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Clarence
Is Clarence a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clarence ranks 18,610th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, heat safety, and good schools, and lowest on taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clarence expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $178,105. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $66,829 median income, cost of living beats 33% of towns.
Is Clarence safe?
Yes, Clarence is safer than 88% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $160 per resident a year.
Compare Clarence with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clarence. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clarence 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.
Clarence detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clarence: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clarence: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clarence: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clarence: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clarence 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.