Best PlacesElk County, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Elk County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Elk County ranks 694th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Elk 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 Elk County
The parts of Elk 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.
St. Marys
Fewer homes sit empty, commutes are shorter, and crime runs lower.
Kersey
It is quieter and tree cover is thicker.
Ridgway
Streets are more walkable and biking is better.
Johnsonburg
More households have young kids, though schools score lower.
Scores across Elk County run from about the 19th to the 84th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Elk County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elk County ranks high
- School gradeA−, better than 96% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- Short commute18.3 minutes each way, better than 87% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of counties
Where Elk County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Elk County
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elk County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,742, 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 Elk County's effective rate of 1.21%, 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 Elk County
Elk County 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 Elk County.
Who works in Elk County, and how
Work in Elk County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Elk County
Elk County has more parkland per resident than 69% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Elk County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Elk County growing, and who is moving in?
Elk County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Indianapolis, IN.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Elk County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Elk County, month by month
Elk County sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 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° | 27° | 19° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 60° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Elk County
The nearest airport, Dubois Regional, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 106 miles away.
The best schools in and around Elk County
Schools across Elk County average an A−, better than 96% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Fox Twp El SchA+ · 90% proficient
- Francis S Grandinetti El SchA+ · 85% proficient
- South St Marys Street El SchA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ridgway Area MsB+ · 50% proficient
- St Marys Area MsB+ · 50% proficient
- Kane Area MsB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- St Marys Area ShsA+ · 80% proficient
- Kane Area HsA · 73% proficient
- Ridgway Area HsA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elk County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elk 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 Elk County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Elk County suits
Common questions about living in Elk County
Is Elk County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elk County ranks 694th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on good schools, heat safety, and low disaster risk, and lowest on a weak job market and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elk County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $137,666. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $66,742 median income, cost of living beats 36% of counties.
Is Elk County safe?
Yes, Elk County is safer than 81% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $231 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Elk County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 19. That works out to about 76 pleasant days a year, more than 31% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Elk County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are St. Marys, Kersey, and Ridgway. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Elk County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elk County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elk 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.
Elk County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elk County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elk County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elk County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elk County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elk 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.