Best PlacesElrama, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Elrama, 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.
Elrama ranks 22,826th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Elrama
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.
Elrama's strengths and weaknesses
Where Elrama ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 83% of towns
Where Elrama ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 5% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,003 a month, better than only 24% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Elrama
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Elrama home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,929, 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 Elrama'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 Elrama
Elrama 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 Elrama.
Who works in Elrama, and how
Work in Elrama centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Elrama
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Elrama.
What the weather is like in Elrama, month by month
Elrama sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 68° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Elrama
Pittsburgh International sits about 23 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.8 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Elrama
Schools across Elrama average a B+, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ringgold El Sch NorthA+ · 80% proficient
- William Penn El SchA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Elizabeth Forward MsB · 45% proficient
- Ringgold MsC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Elizabeth Forward ShsA− · 60% proficient
- Ringgold ShsB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Elrama school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Elrama 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 Elrama against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Elrama
Is Elrama a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Elrama ranks 22,826th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, few empty homes, and health care access, and lowest on noise and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Elrama expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $201,131. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $62,929 median income, cost of living beats 30% of towns.
Is Elrama safe?
Yes, Elrama is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $239 per resident a year.
Compare Elrama with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Elrama. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Elrama 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.
Elrama detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Elrama: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Elrama: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Elrama: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Elrama: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Elrama 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.