Best PlacesJuniata County, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Juniata County, 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.
Juniata County ranks 1,479th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Juniata County
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.
Juniata County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Juniata County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 82% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 80% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 79% of counties
Where Juniata County ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 12% of counties
- Short commute31.1 minutes each way, better than only 12% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 16% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Juniata County
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Juniata County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,818, 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 Juniata County's effective rate of 0.87%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Juniata County
Juniata County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Juniata County.
Who works in Juniata County, and how
Work in Juniata County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Juniata County
Juniata County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Juniata County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Juniata County growing, and who is moving in?
Juniata County has lost about 4% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Harrisburg, PA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Juniata County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Juniata County, month by month
Juniata County sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 31° | 25° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 65° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Juniata County
The nearest airport, State College Regional, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 103 miles away.
The best schools in and around Juniata County
Schools across Juniata County average a B, better than 78% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Shade Gap El SchA+ · 90% proficient
- Blain El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Greenwood El SchA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Greenwood MsA− · 55% proficient
- Fannett-metal MsC− · 30% proficient
- Tuscarora MsC− · 28% proficient
Top high schools
- Greenwood HsA+ · 80% proficient
- Juniata ShsA− · 65% proficient
- Fannett-metal ShsA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Juniata County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Juniata County 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 Juniata County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Juniata County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Juniata County
Is Juniata County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Juniata County ranks 1,479th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, low crime, and low disaster risk, and lowest on education levels and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Juniata County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $218,326. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $67,818 median income, cost of living beats 51% of counties.
Is Juniata County safe?
Yes, Juniata County is safer than 89% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $201 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Juniata County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 37 with lows near 25. That works out to about 75 pleasant days a year, more than 30% of counties.
Is Juniata County good for families?
Schools beat 78% of counties, crime safety beats 89%, and childcare runs $950 a month.
Compare Juniata County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Juniata County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Juniata County 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.
Juniata County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Juniata County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Juniata County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Juniata County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Juniata County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Juniata County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.