Best PlacesJulian, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Julian, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Julian ranks 9,006th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Julian
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.
Julian's strengths and weaknesses
Where Julian ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 92% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 87% of towns
Where Julian ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 6% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,135 a month, better than only 15% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 24% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Julian
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Julian home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,364, 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 Julian's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Julian
Julian runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Julian.
Who works in Julian, and how
Work in Julian centers on education 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 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Julian
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Julian.
What the weather is like in Julian, month by month
Julian sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 29° | 23° |
| April | 61° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 84° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Julian
The nearest airport, State College Regional, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Julian
Schools across Julian average an A, better than 92% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Tyrone Area El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Park Forest El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Philipsburg El SchA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Park Forest MsA+ · 70% proficient
- Bellefonte Area MsB · 46% proficient
- Tyrone Area MsB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- State College Area HsA+ · 80% proficient
- Bald Eagle Area JshsB+ · 52% proficient
- Philipsburg-osceola Area HsD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Julian school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Julian 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 Julian against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Julian
Is Julian a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Julian ranks 9,006th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, heat safety, and good schools, and lowest on taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Julian expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $232,043. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $79,364 median income, cost of living beats 62% of towns.
Is Julian safe?
Yes, Julian is safer than 87% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $163 per resident a year.
Compare Julian with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Julian. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Julian 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.
Julian detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Julian: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Julian: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Julian: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Julian: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Julian 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.