Best PlacesDowningtown, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Downingtown, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Downingtown ranks 47th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Downingtown
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.
Downingtown's strengths and weaknesses
Where Downingtown ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of cities
- School gradeA, better than 97% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 93% of cities
Where Downingtown ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 25% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 29% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Downingtown
A household needs to earn about $138,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Downingtown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $153,736, 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 Downingtown's effective rate of 1.32%, 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 Downingtown
Downingtown'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 Downingtown.
Who works in Downingtown, and how
Work in Downingtown centers on professional & technical and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 29%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Downingtown
Downingtown has more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Downingtown and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Downingtown, month by month
Downingtown sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 32° | 26° |
| April | 62° | 53° | 44° |
| July | 84° | 76° | 68° |
| October | 66° | 57° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Downingtown
The nearest airport, New Castle, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 27 miles away.
The best schools in and around Downingtown
Schools across Downingtown average an A, better than 97% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- East Bradford El SchA+ · 95% proficient
- Uwchlan Hills El SchA+ · 85% proficient
- Mary C Howse El SchA+ · 85% proficient
Top middle schools
- Owen J Roberts MsA+ · 70% proficient
- Marsh Creek Sixth Grade CenterA+ · 68% proficient
- E N Peirce MsA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Downingtown Stem AcademyA+ · 98% proficient
- Downingtown Hs West CampusA+ · 81% proficient
- West Chester Henderson HsA · 79% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Downingtown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Downingtown 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 Downingtown against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Downingtown suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 95% of cities and 29% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Downingtown
Is Downingtown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Downingtown ranks 47th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on health care access, good schools, and few empty homes, and lowest on state infrastructure and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Downingtown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $493,628. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $153,736 median income, cost of living beats 95% of cities.
Is Downingtown safe?
Yes, Downingtown is safer than 79% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $200 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Downingtown?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 26. That works out to about 80 pleasant days a year, more than 44% of cities.
Is Downingtown good for families?
Schools beat 97% of cities, crime safety beats 79%, and childcare runs $1,310 a month.
Compare Downingtown with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Downingtown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Downingtown 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.
Downingtown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Downingtown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Downingtown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Downingtown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Downingtown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Downingtown 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.