Best PlacesHawk Run, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hawk Run, 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.
Hawk Run ranks 34,654th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hawk Run
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.
Hawk Run's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hawk Run ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 83% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 80% of towns
Where Hawk Run ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$38,520 median, better than only 3% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Short commute32.9 minutes each way, better than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hawk Run
A household needs to earn about $27,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hawk Run home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $38,520, 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 Hawk Run's effective rate of 1.16%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Hawk Run
Hawk Run 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 Hawk Run.
Who works in Hawk Run, and how
Work in Hawk Run centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Hawk Run
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hawk Run.
What the weather is like in Hawk Run, month by month
Hawk Run sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 27° | 19° |
| April | 63° | 49° | 36° |
| July | 85° | 72° | 60° |
| October | 66° | 52° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Hawk Run
The nearest airport, State College Regional, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 111 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hawk Run
Schools across Hawk Run average an A−, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Philipsburg El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- West Branch Area El SchA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Branch MsA− · 55% proficient
- Philipsburg-osceola Area MsB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- West Branch Area HsA+ · 95% proficient
- Philipsburg-osceola Area HsD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hawk Run school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hawk Run 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 Hawk Run against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hawk Run
Is Hawk Run a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hawk Run ranks 34,654th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, good schools, and a stable housing market, and lowest on a weak job market and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Hawk Run expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $99,500. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $38,520 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Hawk Run safe?
Yes, Hawk Run is safer than 66% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $214 per resident a year.
Compare Hawk Run with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hawk Run. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hawk Run 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.
Hawk Run detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hawk Run: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hawk Run: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hawk Run: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hawk Run: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hawk Run 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.