Best PlacesClearfield County, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Clearfield 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.
Clearfield County ranks 1,488th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Clearfield 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 Clearfield County
The parts of Clearfield 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.
Dubois & Treasure Lake
More adults hold degrees, commutes are shorter, and health care is easier to reach.
Morrisdale
Fewer homes sit empty and more households have young kids.
Clearfield & Curwensville
Tree cover is thinner and it is noisier.
Houtzdale & Osceola Mills
Fewer residents vote and crime runs higher.
Scores across Clearfield County run from about the 12th to the 84th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Clearfield County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Clearfield County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- School gradeB, better than 80% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of counties
Where Clearfield County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 23% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Clearfield County
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Clearfield County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,314, 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 Clearfield County's effective rate of 1.09%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Clearfield County
Clearfield 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 Clearfield County.
Who works in Clearfield County, and how
Work in Clearfield County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Clearfield County
Clearfield County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more late-night spots per resident than 76% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Clearfield County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Clearfield County growing, and who is moving in?
Clearfield County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Jefferson County, PA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Clearfield County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Clearfield County, month by month
Clearfield County sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 27° | 19° |
| April | 63° | 49° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 66° | 52° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Clearfield County
The nearest airport, Dubois Regional, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 97 miles away.
The best schools in and around Clearfield County
Schools across Clearfield County average a B, better than 80% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Philipsburg El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Purchase Line El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Bennetts Valley El SchA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Branch MsA− · 55% proficient
- St Marys Area MsB+ · 50% proficient
- Philipsburg-osceola Area MsB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- West Branch Area HsA+ · 95% proficient
- St Marys Area ShsA+ · 80% proficient
- Dubois Area ShsB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Clearfield County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Clearfield 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 Clearfield County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Clearfield County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Clearfield County
Is Clearfield County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Clearfield County ranks 1,488th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, heat safety, and a stable housing market, and lowest on a weak job market and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Clearfield County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $144,569. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $65,314 median income, cost of living beats 36% of counties.
Is Clearfield County safe?
Yes, Clearfield County is safer than 61% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $268 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Clearfield County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 37 with lows near 19. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 23% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Clearfield County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Dubois & Treasure Lake, Morrisdale, and Clearfield & Curwensville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Clearfield County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Clearfield County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Clearfield 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.
Clearfield County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Clearfield County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Clearfield County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Clearfield County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Clearfield County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Clearfield 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.