Best PlacesHawthorn, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Hawthorn, 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.
Hawthorn ranks 25,982nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Hawthorn
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.
Hawthorn's strengths and weaknesses
Where Hawthorn ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 80% of towns
- BikingBetter than 80% of towns
Where Hawthorn ranks low
- Household income$53,818 median, better than only 17% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 18% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Short commute32.0 minutes each way, better than only 24% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Hawthorn
A household needs to earn about $27,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Hawthorn home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,818, 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 Hawthorn's effective rate of 0.92%, 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 Hawthorn
Hawthorn 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 Hawthorn.
Who works in Hawthorn, and how
Work in Hawthorn centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Hawthorn
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Hawthorn.
What the weather is like in Hawthorn, month by month
Hawthorn sees roughly 77 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 Hawthorn
The nearest airport, Dubois Regional, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 62 miles away.
The best schools in and around Hawthorn
Schools across Hawthorn average an A−, better than 80% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Redbank Valley Intrmd SchA+ · 75% proficient
Top high schools
- Redbank Valley HsB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Hawthorn school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Hawthorn 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 Hawthorn against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Hawthorn
Is Hawthorn a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Hawthorn ranks 25,982nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, heat safety, and low disaster risk, and lowest on low incomes 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 Hawthorn expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $103,310. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $53,818 median income, cost of living beats 18% of towns.
Is Hawthorn safe?
Yes, Hawthorn is safer than 75% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $194 per resident a year.
Compare Hawthorn with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Hawthorn. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Hawthorn 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.
Hawthorn detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Hawthorn: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Hawthorn: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Hawthorn: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Hawthorn: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Hawthorn 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.