Best PlacesClarion County, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Clarion County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Clarion County ranks 1,341st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Clarion County
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 Clarion County
The parts of Clarion County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Knox
Fewer homes sit empty, local pay stretches further, and crime runs lower.
Shippenville
More adults hold degrees, though incomes run lower.
Rimersburg
Prices have run up less and tree cover is thicker.
Clarion
It is noisier and fewer residents vote.
Scores across Clarion County run from about the 25th to the 79th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Clarion County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clarion County ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 84% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than 75% of counties
Where Clarion County ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 17% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 20% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 23% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 29% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Clarion County
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clarion County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,255, 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 Clarion County's effective rate of 0.96%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Clarion County
Clarion County 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 Clarion County.
Who works in Clarion County, and how
Work in Clarion County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, 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 Clarion County
Clarion County has more parkland per resident than 66% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Clarion County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Clarion County growing, and who is moving in?
Clarion County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Pittsburgh, PA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Clarion County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Clarion County, month by month
Clarion County sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 27° | 19° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 60° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Clarion County
The nearest airport, Dubois Regional, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clarion County
Schools across Clarion County average a B+, better than 84% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sligo El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Redbank Valley Intrmd SchA+ · 75% proficient
- Keystone El SchA · 70% proficient
Top high schools
- North Clarion Co JshsB+ · 58% proficient
- Clarion-limestone Area JshsB+ · 55% proficient
- Redbank Valley HsB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clarion County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clarion County 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 Clarion County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Clarion County suits
Common questions about living in Clarion County
Is Clarion County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clarion County ranks 1,341st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on heat safety, low disaster risk, and good schools, and lowest on state infrastructure and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clarion County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $152,800. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $63,255 median income, cost of living beats 47% of counties.
Is Clarion County safe?
Yes, Clarion County is safer than 62% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $268 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Clarion County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 19. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 31% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Clarion County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Knox, Shippenville, and Rimersburg. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Clarion County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clarion County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clarion County 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.
Clarion County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clarion County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clarion County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clarion County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clarion County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clarion County 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.