Best PlacesDelaware County, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Delaware County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Delaware County ranks 255th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $107,313, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are noise, property taxes, and state infrastructure.
The best neighborhoods in Delaware 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 Delaware County
The parts of Delaware 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.
Newtown Square & Wayne
More adults hold degrees, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Media
Schools score higher and tree cover is thicker.
Broomall, Bryn Mawr & Villanova
Crime runs lower, though homes cost more.
Springfield, Swarthmore & Morton
Prices have run up less and more households have young kids.
Aston, Marcus Hook & Garnet Valley
Streets are more car-dependent and transit reaches fewer jobs.
Upper Darby, Drexel Hill & Havertown
Biking is better, though fewer residents vote.
Essington
Disaster risk is higher and health care is harder to reach.
Clifton Heights, Glenolden & Yeadon
Health outcomes score lower and commutes are longer.
Chester & Ridley Park
It is noisier and more homes sit empty.
Delaware County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Delaware County's strengths and weaknesses
Delaware County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Big-city access is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Walkability and transit follow.
The one real hole is noise, near the bottom of the country. Property taxes and state infrastructure also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Delaware County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of counties
- TransitBetter than 98% of counties
- Household income$107,313 median, better than 95% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of counties
Where Delaware County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,032 a month, better than only 15% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Delaware County
A household needs to earn about $110,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Delaware County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $107,313; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Delaware County's effective rate of 1.78%, 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 Delaware County
Delaware County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Delaware County.
Who works in Delaware County, and how
Work in Delaware County centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Delaware County
Delaware County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of counties and more parkland per resident than 78% of counties. The coast is about 45 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Delaware County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Delaware County growing, and who is moving in?
Delaware County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Philadelphia, PA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Delaware County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Delaware County, month by month
Delaware County sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 45, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 45° | 36° | 27° |
| April | 68° | 56° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 72° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Delaware County
Philadelphia International sits about 7 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 14.8 million passengers in 2025, with 179 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Delaware County
Schools across Delaware County average a B, better than 85% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Radnor El SchA+ · 98% proficient
- Wallingford El SchA+ · 98% proficient
- Penn Wood El SchA+ · 98% proficient
Top middle schools
- Radnor MsA+ · 80% proficient
- Stetson MsA+ · 75% proficient
- Strath Haven MsA+ · 74% proficient
Top high schools
- Penncrest HsA+ · 95% proficient
- Radnor ShsA+ · 92% proficient
- Garnet Valley HsA+ · 87% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Delaware County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Delaware 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 Delaware County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Delaware County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 18% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Delaware County
Is Delaware County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Delaware County ranks 255th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, walkability, and transit, and lowest on noise and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Delaware County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $370,238. The overall cost of living runs about 1% below the national average. Set against a $107,313 median income, cost of living beats 94% of counties.
Is Delaware County safe?
Delaware County is safer than 25% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $380 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Delaware County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 45 with lows near 27. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 16% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Delaware County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Newtown Square & Wayne, Media, and Broomall, Bryn Mawr & Villanova. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Delaware County good for families?
Schools beat 85% of counties, crime safety beats 25%, and childcare runs $1,032 a month.
Is Delaware County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 66% of counties. About 18% of workers already work from home.
Compare Delaware County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Delaware County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Delaware 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.
Delaware County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Delaware County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Delaware County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Delaware County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Delaware County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Delaware 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.