Best PlacesLycoming County, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lycoming 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.
Lycoming County ranks 732nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on the weather and taxes. It does better on walkability, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Lycoming 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 Lycoming County
The parts of Lycoming 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.
Montoursville & Hughesville
Fewer homes sit empty.
South Williamsport
More households have young kids, though crime runs higher.
Muncy & Montgomery
It is quieter, though streets are more car-dependent.
Jersey Shore
Commutes are longer.
Cogan Station
Tree cover is thicker, though biking is worse.
Williamsport
Incomes run lower and local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Lycoming County run from about the 17th to the 96th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Lycoming County's strengths and weaknesses
Lycoming County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Walkability, good schools, and big-city access carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. The weather, taxes, and state infrastructure hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Lycoming County ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 87% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 87% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 84% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 82% of counties
Where Lycoming County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 12% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lycoming County
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lycoming County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,612, 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 Lycoming County's effective rate of 1.29%, 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 Lycoming County
Lycoming 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 Lycoming County.
Who works in Lycoming County, and how
Work in Lycoming County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Lycoming County
Lycoming County has more parkland per resident than 78% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Lycoming County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lycoming County growing, and who is moving in?
Lycoming County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Philadelphia, PA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lycoming County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lycoming County, month by month
Lycoming County sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 22° |
| April | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 89° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Lycoming County
The nearest airport, State College Regional, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 132 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lycoming County
Schools across Lycoming County average a B+, better than 87% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Avis El SchA+ · 75% proficient
- Salladasburg El SchA+ · 73% proficient
- Central El SchA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lycoming Valley Intrmd SchA+ · 75% proficient
- Curtin Intrmd SchA− · 55% proficient
- Loyalsock Twp MsB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Williamsport Area ShsA+ · 80% proficient
- Jersey Shore Area ShsA− · 67% proficient
- Montoursville Area ShsA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lycoming County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lycoming 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 Lycoming County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lycoming County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Lycoming County
Is Lycoming County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lycoming County ranks 732nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on walkability, good schools, and big-city access, and lowest on the weather and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lycoming County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $204,881. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $68,612 median income, cost of living beats 58% of counties.
Is Lycoming County safe?
Yes, Lycoming County is safer than 74% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $261 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lycoming County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 22. That works out to about 64 pleasant days a year, more than 11% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lycoming County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Montoursville & Hughesville, South Williamsport, and Muncy & Montgomery. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Lycoming County good for families?
Schools beat 87% of counties, crime safety beats 74%, and childcare runs $674 a month.
Is Lycoming County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 58% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 78% of counties. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Lycoming County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lycoming County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lycoming 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.
Lycoming County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lycoming County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lycoming County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lycoming County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lycoming County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lycoming 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.