Best PlacesDuncansville, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Duncansville, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Duncansville ranks 12,502nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Duncansville
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.
Duncansville's strengths and weaknesses
Where Duncansville ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Short commute19.7 minutes each way, better than 89% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 86% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 83% of towns
Where Duncansville ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 9% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 33% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Duncansville
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Duncansville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,296, 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 Duncansville's effective rate of 1.16%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Duncansville
Duncansville 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 Duncansville.
Who works in Duncansville, and how
Work in Duncansville centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Duncansville
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Duncansville.
What the weather is like in Duncansville, month by month
Duncansville sees roughly 74 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 Duncansville
The nearest airport, Altoona/Blair County, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 94 miles away.
The best schools in and around Duncansville
Schools across Duncansville average an A−, better than 86% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Martinsburg El SchA · 65% proficient
- Frankstown El SchA · 64% proficient
- Foot Of Ten El SchA · 64% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hollidaysburg Area JhsB+ · 51% proficient
- Penn Cambria MsB− · 41% proficient
- Spring Cove MsC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Central HsA+ · 95% proficient
- Penn Cambria HsA− · 65% proficient
- Hollidaysburg Area ShsA− · 64% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Duncansville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Duncansville 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 Duncansville against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Duncansville
Is Duncansville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Duncansville ranks 12,502nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, short commutes, and fast internet, and lowest on noise and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Duncansville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $193,338. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $73,296 median income, cost of living beats 43% of towns.
Is Duncansville safe?
Yes, Duncansville is safer than 73% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $207 per resident a year.
Compare Duncansville with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Duncansville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Duncansville 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.
Duncansville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Duncansville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Duncansville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Duncansville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Duncansville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Duncansville 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.