Best PlacesLackawaxen, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lackawaxen, 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.
Lackawaxen ranks 8,926th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lackawaxen
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.
Lackawaxen's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lackawaxen ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 95% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 95% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 93% of towns
Where Lackawaxen ranks low
- Short commute41.6 minutes each way, better than only 4% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lackawaxen
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lackawaxen home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,567, 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 Lackawaxen's effective rate of 0.99%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Lackawaxen
Lackawaxen 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 Lackawaxen.
Who works in Lackawaxen, and how
Work in Lackawaxen centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Lackawaxen
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lackawaxen.
What the weather is like in Lackawaxen, month by month
Lackawaxen sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 17° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 59° |
| October | 63° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Lackawaxen
The nearest airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 71 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lackawaxen
Schools across Lackawaxen average an A−, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wallenpaupack North Intrmd SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Wallenpaupack South El SchA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wallenpaupack Area MsB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Wallenpaupack Area HsA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lackawaxen school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lackawaxen 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 Lackawaxen against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lackawaxen
Is Lackawaxen a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lackawaxen ranks 8,926th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, civic engagement, and health care access, 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 Lackawaxen expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $298,163. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $81,567 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Lackawaxen safe?
Yes, Lackawaxen is safer than 97% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $125 per resident a year.
Compare Lackawaxen with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lackawaxen. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lackawaxen 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.
Lackawaxen detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lackawaxen: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lackawaxen: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lackawaxen: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lackawaxen: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lackawaxen 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.