Best PlacesLancaster, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Lancaster metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Original uploader was Randolph Carney at en.wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, via commons
Lancaster ranks 36th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. Its strengths are few empty homes and big-city access. The cost shows up in the weather, state infrastructure, and childcare costs.
The best neighborhoods in the Lancaster metro
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 Lancaster
The towns and districts of the Lancaster metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Lititz
Schools score higher, crime runs lower, and health care is easier to reach.
Mount Joy, Marietta & Landisville
More adults hold degrees, though fewer households have young kids.
Downtown Lancaster
Biking is better and streets are more walkable.
Elizabethtown & Manheim
Prices have run up less, though transit reaches fewer jobs.
Millersville, Columbia & Conestoga
Local pay stretches less far and fewer residents vote.
Ephrata & Denver
Scores close to Millersville, Columbia & Conestoga, except that incomes run higher here.
New Holland, Leola & Narvon
It is quieter and advertised internet is faster.
Quarryville, Strasburg & Gap
Heat risk is lower.
Willow Street, New Providence & Holtwood
Scores close to Quarryville, Strasburg & Gap, except that tree cover is thicker here.
Lancaster shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 8% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Lancaster's strengths and weaknesses
Lancaster ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Few empty homes is the standout, in the top 1% of metro areas. Big-city access and low crime follow.
The one real hole is the weather, near the bottom of the country. State infrastructure and childcare costs also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Lancaster ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of metro areas
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of metro areas
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of metro areas
- School gradeB+, better than 84% of metro areas
- Voter turnoutBetter than 84% of metro areas
Where Lancaster ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of metro areas
- State infrastructureBetter than only 15% of metro areas
- Cheap childcare$1,106 a month, better than only 25% of metro areas
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of metro areas
- Air qualityBetter than only 27% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Lancaster
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lancaster home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,940, 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 Lancaster's effective rate of 1.24%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. 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 health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Lancaster
Lancaster has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most metro areas and less parkland per resident than most metro areas. The coast is about 62 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lancaster and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lancaster growing, and who is moving in?
Lancaster has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Philadelphia, PA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lancaster go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lancaster, month by month
Lancaster sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 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° | 41° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Lancaster
The nearest airport, Lancaster, is about 5 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 58 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lancaster
Schools across Lancaster average a B+, better than 84% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Letort El SchA+ · 95% proficient
- West Vincent El SchA+ · 85% proficient
- Central Manor El SchA+ · 85% proficient
Top middle schools
- Owen J Roberts MsA+ · 70% proficient
- Landisville Intrmd CtrA+ · 70% proficient
- Warwick MsA · 62% proficient
Top high schools
- Warwick ShsA+ · 90% proficient
- Owen J Roberts HsA · 70% proficient
- Penn Manor HsA · 70% 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 386 metro areas.
Who Lancaster suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of metro areas, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Lancaster
Is Lancaster a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lancaster ranks 36th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on few empty homes, big-city access, and low crime, and lowest on the weather and state infrastructure. 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 $311,475. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $91,940 median income, cost of living beats 72% of metro areas.
Is Lancaster safe?
Yes, Lancaster is safer than 89% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $204 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lancaster?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 24. That works out to about 59 pleasant days a year, more than 2% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lancaster?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lititz, Mount Joy, Marietta & Landisville, and Downtown Lancaster. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Lancaster good for families?
Schools beat 84% of metro areas, crime safety beats 89%, and childcare runs $1,106 a month.
Is Lancaster good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of metro areas, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 66% of metro areas. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Lancaster with other metro areas
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.
- 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.