Best PlacesEast Hickory, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around East Hickory, 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.
East Hickory ranks 36,989th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in East Hickory
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.
East Hickory's strengths and weaknesses
Where East Hickory ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 80% of towns
Where East Hickory ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 15% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 16% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in East Hickory
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median East Hickory home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,130, 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 East Hickory's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in East Hickory
East Hickory 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 East Hickory.
Who works in East Hickory, and how
Work in East Hickory centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in East Hickory
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across East Hickory.
What the weather is like in East Hickory, month by month
East Hickory sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 60° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of East Hickory
The nearest airport, Dubois Regional, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 87 miles away.
The best schools in and around East Hickory
Schools across East Hickory average a C, better than 36% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- West Forest El SchB · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- West Forest JshsD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every East Hickory school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
East Hickory 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 East Hickory against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in East Hickory
Is East Hickory a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, East Hickory ranks 36,989th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, low disaster risk, and tree cover, and lowest on empty homes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is East Hickory expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $117,225. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $54,130 median income, cost of living beats 22% of towns.
Is East Hickory safe?
East Hickory is safer than 37% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $290 per resident a year.
Compare East Hickory with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to East Hickory. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in East Hickory 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.
East Hickory detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for East Hickory: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in East Hickory: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of East Hickory: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in East Hickory: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
East Hickory 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.