Best PlacesLancaster, OR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lancaster, 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.
Lancaster ranks 26,981st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state infrastructure by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lancaster
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.
Lancaster's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lancaster ranks high
- State infrastructureBetter than 97% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 95% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 87% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of towns
- Household income$94,846 median, better than 81% of towns
Where Lancaster ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,390 a month, better than only 6% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 11% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 18% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lancaster
A household needs to earn about $130,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lancaster home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $94,846, 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 Lancaster's effective rate of 0.61%, 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 Lancaster
Lancaster's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lancaster.
Who works in Lancaster, and how
Work in Lancaster centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Lancaster
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lancaster.
What the weather is like in Lancaster, month by month
Lancaster sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 70° | 51° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Lancaster
The nearest airport, Mahlon Sweet Field, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Portland International, about 97 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lancaster
Schools across Lancaster average a C, better than 39% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Monroe Grade SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Harrisburg Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Laurel Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oaklea Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Harrisburg Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Junction City High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Harrisburg High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Monroe High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lancaster school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lancaster 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 Lancaster against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lancaster
Is Lancaster a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lancaster ranks 26,981st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state infrastructure, cell coverage, and few empty homes, and lowest on childcare costs and disaster risk. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lancaster expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $508,913. The overall cost of living runs about 0% above the national average. Set against a $94,846 median income, cost of living beats 69% of towns.
Is Lancaster safe?
Lancaster is safer than 23% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $552 per resident a year.
Compare Lancaster with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lancaster. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lancaster 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.
Lancaster detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lancaster: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lancaster: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lancaster: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lancaster: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lancaster 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.