Best PlacesFreeland, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Freeland, 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.
Freeland ranks 18,802nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Freeland
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.
Freeland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Freeland ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 90% of towns
- BikingBetter than 88% of towns
Where Freeland ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 16% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 17% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 18% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Freeland
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Freeland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,239, 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 Freeland's effective rate of 1.28%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Freeland
Freeland's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Freeland.
Who works in Freeland, and how
Work in Freeland centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Freeland
Freeland has more restaurants and bars per resident than 65% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Freeland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Freeland, month by month
Freeland sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Freeland
The nearest airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around Freeland
Schools across Freeland average a C, better than 31% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Freeland El/msC− · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Hazleton Area HsC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Freeland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Freeland 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 Freeland against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Freeland
Is Freeland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Freeland ranks 18,802nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, big-city access, and low disaster risk, and lowest on property taxes 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 Freeland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $136,446. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $65,239 median income, cost of living beats 45% of towns.
Is Freeland safe?
Freeland is safer than 50% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $254 per resident a year.
Compare Freeland with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Freeland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Freeland 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.
Freeland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Freeland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Freeland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Freeland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Freeland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Freeland 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.