Best PlacesLonaconing, MD Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Lonaconing, 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.
Lonaconing ranks 38,663rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Lonaconing
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.
Lonaconing's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lonaconing ranks high
- TransitBetter than 92% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 88% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of towns
- BikingBetter than 78% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of towns
Where Lonaconing ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 1% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 8% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 8% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Lonaconing
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lonaconing home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,948, 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 Lonaconing's effective rate of 0.81%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lonaconing
Lonaconing 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 Lonaconing.
Who works in Lonaconing, and how
Work in Lonaconing centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Lonaconing
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lonaconing.
What the weather is like in Lonaconing, month by month
Lonaconing sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 33° | 26° |
| April | 68° | 54° | 43° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Lonaconing
The nearest airport, Morgantown Municipal/Walter L Bill Hart Field, is about 49 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 90 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lonaconing
Schools across Lonaconing average a C−, better than 22% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Route 40 ElementaryD+ · 21% proficient
- George's Creek ElementaryD− · 15% proficient
- Grantsville ElementaryD− · 14% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northern Middle SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Westmar MiddleD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Northern Garrett High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Mountain Ridge High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lonaconing school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lonaconing 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 Lonaconing against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Lonaconing
Is Lonaconing a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lonaconing ranks 38,663rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, walkability, and cell coverage, and lowest on 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 Lonaconing expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $143,836. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $59,948 median income, cost of living beats 29% of towns.
Is Lonaconing safe?
Lonaconing is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $521 per resident a year.
Compare Lonaconing with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lonaconing. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lonaconing 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.
Lonaconing detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lonaconing: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lonaconing: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lonaconing: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lonaconing: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lonaconing 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.