Best PlacesCross Keys, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cross Keys, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Cross Keys ranks 29,971st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Cross Keys
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.
Cross Keys' strengths and weaknesses
Where Cross Keys ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of towns
- Short commute19.9 minutes each way, better than 88% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 84% of towns
Where Cross Keys ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 13% of towns
- Household income$52,972 median, better than only 16% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cross Keys
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cross Keys home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,972, 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 Cross Keys' effective rate of 1.21%, 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 Cross Keys
Cross Keys 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 Cross Keys.
Who works in Cross Keys, and how
Work in Cross Keys centers on health care & social and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Cross Keys
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cross Keys.
What the weather is like in Cross Keys, month by month
Cross Keys sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 86° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Cross Keys
The nearest airport, Altoona/Blair County, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cross Keys
Schools across Cross Keys average an A−, better than 84% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Foot Of Ten El SchA · 64% proficient
- Charles W Longer El SchA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hollidaysburg Area JhsB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Hollidaysburg Area ShsA− · 64% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cross Keys school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cross Keys 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 Cross Keys against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cross Keys
Is Cross Keys a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cross Keys ranks 29,971st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, low disaster risk, and fast internet, and lowest on noise and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cross Keys expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $152,367. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $52,972 median income, cost of living beats 13% of towns.
Is Cross Keys safe?
Cross Keys is safer than 41% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $285 per resident a year.
Compare Cross Keys with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cross Keys. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cross Keys 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.
Cross Keys detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cross Keys: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cross Keys: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cross Keys: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cross Keys: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cross Keys 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.