Best PlacesMarion Heights, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Marion Heights, 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.
Marion Heights ranks 36,696th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Marion Heights
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.
Marion Heights' strengths and weaknesses
Where Marion Heights ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of towns
Where Marion Heights ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Household income$53,011 median, better than only 16% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 18% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Marion Heights
A household needs to earn about $25,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Marion Heights home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,011, 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 Marion Heights' effective rate of 1.15%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Marion Heights
Marion Heights 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 Marion Heights.
Who works in Marion Heights, and how
Work in Marion Heights centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Marion Heights
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Marion Heights.
What the weather is like in Marion Heights, month by month
Marion Heights sees roughly 65 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 Marion Heights
The nearest airport, Harrisburg International, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 91 miles away.
The best schools in and around Marion Heights
Schools across Marion Heights average a B, better than 67% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mount Carmel Area El SchB · 46% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mount Carmel Area JhD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Mount Carmel Area HsA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Marion Heights school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Marion Heights 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 Marion Heights against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Marion Heights
Is Marion Heights a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Marion Heights ranks 36,696th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, big-city access, and low disaster risk, and lowest on a weak job market and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Marion Heights expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $90,253. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $53,011 median income, cost of living beats 20% of towns.
Is Marion Heights safe?
Marion Heights is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $358 per resident a year.
Compare Marion Heights with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Marion Heights. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Marion Heights 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.
Marion Heights detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Marion Heights: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Marion Heights: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Marion Heights: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Marion Heights: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Marion Heights 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.