Best PlacesLocustdale, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Locustdale, 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.
Locustdale ranks 34,298th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Locustdale
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.
Locustdale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Locustdale ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 91% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 76% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 75% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 72% of towns
Where Locustdale ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Household income$57,556 median, better than only 23% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Locustdale
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Locustdale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,556, 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 Locustdale's effective rate of 1.26%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Locustdale
Locustdale 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 Locustdale.
Who works in Locustdale, and how
Work in Locustdale centers on retail trade and public administration. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Locustdale
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Locustdale.
What the weather is like in Locustdale, month by month
Locustdale sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 38° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Locustdale
The nearest airport, Harrisburg International, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 86 miles away.
The best schools in and around Locustdale
Schools across Locustdale average a B−, better than 58% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Schuylkill Elem SchB · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- North Schuylkill JshsC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Locustdale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Locustdale 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 Locustdale against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Locustdale
Is Locustdale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Locustdale ranks 34,298th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, low disaster risk, and population health, and lowest on property taxes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Locustdale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $147,201. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $57,556 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is Locustdale safe?
Locustdale is safer than 23% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $366 per resident a year.
Compare Locustdale with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Locustdale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Locustdale 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.
Locustdale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Locustdale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Locustdale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Locustdale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Locustdale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Locustdale 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.