Best PlacesLawrence County, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lawrence 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.
Lawrence County ranks 1,191st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lawrence 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 Lawrence County
The parts of Lawrence 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.
Volant
It is quieter, crime runs lower, and more households have young kids.
Pulaski & Edinburg
Incomes run higher and local pay stretches further.
Ellwood City
Fewer homes sit empty and prices have run up less.
New Wilmington
More adults hold degrees, though homes cost more.
New Castle
Streets are more walkable, though health care is harder to reach.
Lawrence County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 6% of the country and others in the top 8%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Lawrence County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lawrence County ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 85% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 80% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 78% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 75% of counties
Where Lawrence County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 20% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 71 pleasant days a year, better than only 22% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lawrence County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lawrence County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,031, 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 Lawrence County's effective rate of 1.35%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lawrence County
Lawrence 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 Lawrence County.
Who works in Lawrence County, and how
Work in Lawrence County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Lawrence County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lawrence County.
Is Lawrence County growing, and who is moving in?
Lawrence County has lost about 5% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Pittsburgh, PA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lawrence County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lawrence County, month by month
Lawrence County sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 28° | 20° |
| April | 64° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 86° | 73° | 61° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Lawrence County
Pittsburgh International sits about 35 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.8 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Lawrence County
Schools across Lawrence County average a B+, better than 85% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Wilmington Area El SchA+ · 95% proficient
- Shenango El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Union Memorial El SchA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Springfield Intermediate Middle SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Slippery Rock Area MsA · 65% proficient
- East Palestine Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Wilmington Area HsA+ · 85% proficient
- Laurel HsA · 73% proficient
- Shenango HsA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lawrence County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lawrence 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 Lawrence County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lawrence County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 14% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Lawrence County
Is Lawrence County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lawrence County ranks 1,191st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low disaster risk, good schools, and big-city access, and lowest on a weak job market and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lawrence County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $147,781. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $66,031 median income, cost of living beats 46% of counties.
Is Lawrence County safe?
Yes, Lawrence County is safer than 59% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $291 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lawrence County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 38 with lows near 20. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lawrence County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Volant, Pulaski & Edinburg, and Ellwood City. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Lawrence County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lawrence County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lawrence 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.
Lawrence County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lawrence County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lawrence County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lawrence County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lawrence County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lawrence 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.