Best PlacesKarthaus, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Karthaus, 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.
Karthaus ranks 24,340th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Karthaus
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.
Karthaus' strengths and weaknesses
Where Karthaus ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 80% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 80% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 76% of towns
Where Karthaus ranks low
- Short commute37.1 minutes each way, better than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 18% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Karthaus
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Karthaus home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,047, 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 Karthaus' effective rate of 0.89%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Karthaus
Karthaus runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Karthaus.
Who works in Karthaus, and how
Work in Karthaus centers on public administration and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Karthaus
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Karthaus.
What the weather is like in Karthaus, month by month
Karthaus sees roughly 70 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 Karthaus
The nearest airport, State College Regional, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 120 miles away.
The best schools in and around Karthaus
Schools across Karthaus average a B+, better than 80% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mountaintop Area El SchA+ · 73% proficient
- West Branch Area El SchA · 70% proficient
- Clearfield Area El SchC+ · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Branch MsA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- West Branch Area HsA+ · 95% proficient
- Clearfield Area JshsC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Karthaus school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Karthaus 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 Karthaus against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Karthaus
Is Karthaus a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Karthaus ranks 24,340th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, a stable housing market, and good schools, and lowest on long commutes and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Karthaus expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $164,615. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $67,047 median income, cost of living beats 29% of towns.
Is Karthaus safe?
Yes, Karthaus is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $209 per resident a year.
Compare Karthaus with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Karthaus. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Karthaus 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.
Karthaus detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Karthaus: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Karthaus: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Karthaus: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Karthaus: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Karthaus 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.