Best PlacesJacobus, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Jacobus, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Jacobus ranks 3,239th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Jacobus
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.
Jacobus' strengths and weaknesses
Where Jacobus ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 95% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of towns
- Household income$121,048 median, better than 93% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 93% of towns
- BikingBetter than 92% of towns
Where Jacobus ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 19% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Jacobus
A household needs to earn about $87,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Jacobus home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $121,048, 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 Jacobus' effective rate of 1.70%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Jacobus
Jacobus runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Jacobus.
Who works in Jacobus, and how
Work in Jacobus centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Jacobus
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Jacobus.
What the weather is like in Jacobus, month by month
Jacobus sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 32° | 21° |
| April | 67° | 53° | 39° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 70° | 57° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Jacobus
The nearest airport, Harrisburg International, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 49 miles away.
The best schools in and around Jacobus
Schools across Jacobus average an A−, better than 85% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Loganville-springfield El SchA · 68% proficient
- Leaders Heights El SchA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Dallastown Area Intermediate SchA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Dallastown Area ShsB · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Jacobus school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Jacobus 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 Jacobus against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Jacobus
Is Jacobus a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Jacobus ranks 3,239th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on what local pay buys, big-city access, and high incomes, and lowest on property taxes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Jacobus expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $296,031. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $121,048 median income, cost of living beats 95% of towns.
Is Jacobus safe?
Yes, Jacobus is safer than 74% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $209 per resident a year.
Compare Jacobus with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Jacobus. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Jacobus 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.
Jacobus detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Jacobus: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Jacobus: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Jacobus: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Jacobus: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Jacobus 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.