Best PlacesElizabethtown, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elizabethtown, 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.
Elizabethtown ranks 624th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Elizabethtown
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.
Elizabethtown's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elizabethtown ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 82% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 81% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than 79% of cities
Where Elizabethtown ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 25% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 34% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Elizabethtown
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elizabethtown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $90,447, 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 Elizabethtown's effective rate of 1.35%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Elizabethtown
Elizabethtown 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 Elizabethtown.
Who works in Elizabethtown, and how
Work in Elizabethtown centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Elizabethtown
Elizabethtown has more parkland per resident than 79% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Elizabethtown and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Elizabethtown, month by month
Elizabethtown sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 42, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 42° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 42° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Elizabethtown
The nearest airport, Harrisburg International, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 68 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elizabethtown
Schools across Elizabethtown average a B+, better than 76% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Lingle Avenue El SchA+ · 85% proficient
- Conewago El SchA · 67% proficient
- Bainbridge El SchA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Palmyra Area MsA · 63% proficient
- Manheim Central MsB · 44% proficient
- Lower Dauphin MsB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Lower Dauphin HsA · 71% proficient
- Palmyra Area ShsA− · 60% proficient
- Donegal HsB · 47% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elizabethtown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elizabethtown 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 Elizabethtown against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Elizabethtown suits
Common questions about living in Elizabethtown
Is Elizabethtown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elizabethtown ranks 624th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, cheap car insurance, and a stable housing market, and lowest on the weather and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elizabethtown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $297,961. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $90,447 median income, cost of living beats 49% of cities.
Is Elizabethtown safe?
Yes, Elizabethtown is safer than 91% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $186 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Elizabethtown?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 42 with lows near 24. That works out to about 61 pleasant days a year, more than 9% of cities.
Is Elizabethtown good for families?
Schools beat 76% of cities, crime safety beats 91%, and childcare runs $1,091 a month.
Compare Elizabethtown with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elizabethtown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elizabethtown 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.
Elizabethtown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elizabethtown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elizabethtown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elizabethtown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elizabethtown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elizabethtown 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.