Best PlacesLackawanna County, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lackawanna County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Lackawanna County ranks 975th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on noise and property taxes. It does better on walkability, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Lackawanna 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.
The best areas in Lackawanna County
The parts of Lackawanna County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Clarks Summit
More adults hold degrees, prices have run up less, and local pay stretches further.
Moscow
Tree cover is thicker and schools score higher.
Lake Ariel
It is quieter, though streets are more car-dependent.
Old Forge, Moosic & Taylor
More households have young kids and fewer homes sit empty.
Carbondale, Blakely & Archbald
Scores close to Old Forge, Moosic & Taylor, except that crime runs lower here.
Scranton & Dunmore
Incomes run lower and fewer residents vote.
Lackawanna County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 4% of the country and others in the top 4%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Lackawanna County's strengths and weaknesses
Lackawanna County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Walkability is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Big-city access and fast internet follow.
The one real hole is noise, near the bottom of the country. Property taxes and taxes also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Lackawanna County ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 98% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 87% of counties
- School gradeB, better than 83% of counties
Where Lackawanna County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 10% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 13% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lackawanna County
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lackawanna County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,343, 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 Lackawanna County's effective rate of 1.54%, 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 Lackawanna County
Lackawanna County runs older than the country, 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 Lackawanna County.
Who works in Lackawanna County, and how
Work in Lackawanna County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Lackawanna County
Lackawanna County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of counties and more parkland per resident than 66% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lackawanna County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lackawanna County growing, and who is moving in?
Lackawanna County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from New York, NY.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lackawanna County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lackawanna County, month by month
Lackawanna County sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Lackawanna County
The nearest airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 92 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lackawanna County
Schools across Lackawanna County average a B, better than 83% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Moscow El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Jefferson El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Waverly SchA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- North Pocono MsA · 65% proficient
- Abington Heights MsA− · 53% proficient
- Valley View MsB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- North Pocono HsA+ · 95% proficient
- Abington Heights HsA+ · 83% proficient
- Scranton HsA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lackawanna County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lackawanna 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 Lackawanna County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lackawanna County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Lackawanna County
Is Lackawanna County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lackawanna County ranks 975th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on walkability, big-city access, and fast internet, and lowest on noise and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lackawanna County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $205,848. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $70,343 median income, cost of living beats 58% of counties.
Is Lackawanna County safe?
Lackawanna County is safer than 42% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $321 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lackawanna County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 38 with lows near 21. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 21% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lackawanna County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Clarks Summit, Moscow, and Lake Ariel. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Lackawanna County good for families?
Schools beat 83% of counties, crime safety beats 42%, and childcare runs $916 a month.
Is Lackawanna County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 58% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 87% of counties. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Lackawanna County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lackawanna County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lackawanna 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.
Lackawanna County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lackawanna County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lackawanna County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lackawanna County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lackawanna County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lackawanna 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.