Best PlacesKutztown, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kutztown, 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.
Kutztown ranks 12,980th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and an overheated housing market is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Kutztown
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.
Kutztown's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kutztown ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 93% of towns
- TransitBetter than 92% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 88% of towns
Where Kutztown ranks low
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 3% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 5% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 11% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kutztown
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kutztown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $72,418, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Kutztown's effective rate of 1.46%, 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 Kutztown
Kutztown runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Kutztown.
Who works in Kutztown, and how
Work in Kutztown centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 13%
Life in Kutztown
Kutztown has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of towns and more parkland per resident than 89% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kutztown and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kutztown, month by month
Kutztown sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 42° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Kutztown
The nearest airport, Lehigh Valley International, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 54 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kutztown
Schools across Kutztown average an A−, better than 83% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Weisenberg El SchA+ · 85% proficient
- Kutztown El SchA+ · 75% proficient
- Greenwich-lenhartsville El SchB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northwestern Lehigh MsA · 65% proficient
- Fred S Engle MsA · 61% proficient
- Brandywine Heights Intrmd/msA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- Avon Grove HsA− · 65% proficient
- Northwestern Lehigh HsA− · 60% proficient
- Kutztown Area ShsB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kutztown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kutztown 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 Kutztown against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kutztown
Is Kutztown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kutztown ranks 12,980th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, big-city access, and population health, and lowest on an overheated housing market and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kutztown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $294,755. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $72,418 median income, cost of living beats 35% of towns.
Is Kutztown safe?
Yes, Kutztown is safer than 80% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $195 per resident a year.
Compare Kutztown with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kutztown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kutztown 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.
Kutztown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kutztown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kutztown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kutztown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kutztown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kutztown 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.