Best PlacesGermantown, Philadelphia, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Germantown, Philadelphia, 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.
Germantown, Philadelphia ranks 4,597th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. Taxes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on big-city access.
The best neighborhoods in Germantown, Philadelphia
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.
Germantown, Philadelphia's strengths and weaknesses
Where Germantown, Philadelphia ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 85% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than 82% of neighborhoods
Where Germantown, Philadelphia ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Short commute34.1 minutes each way, better than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than only 8% of neighborhoods
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Germantown, Philadelphia
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Germantown, Philadelphia home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $52,177; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Germantown, Philadelphia's effective rate of 0.86%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Germantown, Philadelphia
Germantown, Philadelphia runs younger 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 Germantown, Philadelphia.
Who works in Germantown, Philadelphia, and how
Work in Germantown, Philadelphia centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 52%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 29%
Life in Germantown, Philadelphia
Germantown, Philadelphia has more parkland per resident than 67% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Germantown, Philadelphia and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Germantown, Philadelphia, month by month
Germantown, Philadelphia sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Germantown, Philadelphia
Philadelphia International sits about 12 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 14.8 million passengers in 2025, with 179 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Germantown, Philadelphia
Schools across Germantown, Philadelphia average a C, better than 52% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Pennell Joseph SchD+ · 25% proficient
- Lingelbach Anna L SchD+ · 25% proficient
- Prince HallD+ · 21% proficient
Top middle schools
- Amy At MartinD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Central HsA+ · 98% proficient
- Arts Academy At Benjamin RushA− · 65% proficient
- King Martin Luther HsF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Germantown, Philadelphia school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Germantown, Philadelphia 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 Germantown, Philadelphia against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Who Germantown, Philadelphia suits
Common questions about living in Germantown, Philadelphia
Is Germantown, Philadelphia a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Germantown, Philadelphia ranks 4,597th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on big-city access, walkability, and transit, and lowest on taxes and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Germantown, Philadelphia expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $204,343. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $52,177 median income, cost of living beats 22% of neighborhoods.
Is Germantown, Philadelphia safe?
Germantown, Philadelphia is safer than 8% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $773 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Germantown, Philadelphia?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 25. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 27% of neighborhoods.
Is Germantown, Philadelphia good for families?
Schools beat 52% of neighborhoods, crime safety beats 8%, and childcare runs $1,021 a month.
Compare Germantown, Philadelphia with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Germantown, Philadelphia. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Germantown, Philadelphia 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.
Germantown, Philadelphia detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Germantown, Philadelphia: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Germantown, Philadelphia: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Germantown, Philadelphia: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Germantown, Philadelphia: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Germantown, Philadelphia 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.