Best PlacesMcCrea, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McCrea, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
McCrea ranks 11,591st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in McCrea
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.
McCrea's strengths and weaknesses
Where McCrea ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 88% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 80% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 77% of towns
Where McCrea ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of towns
- Short commute34.5 minutes each way, better than only 15% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in McCrea
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McCrea home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,448, 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 McCrea's effective rate of 1.04%, 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 McCrea
McCrea's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for McCrea.
Who works in McCrea, and how
Work in McCrea centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in McCrea
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across McCrea.
What the weather is like in McCrea, month by month
McCrea sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 31° | 25° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 65° |
| October | 65° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of McCrea
The nearest airport, Harrisburg International, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 85 miles away.
The best schools in and around McCrea
Schools across McCrea average a B+, better than 75% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Blain El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Newville El SchB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Perry MsA− · 55% proficient
- Big Spring MsB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- West Perry ShsA · 75% proficient
- Big Spring HsB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McCrea school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McCrea 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 McCrea against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in McCrea
Is McCrea a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McCrea ranks 11,591st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, low disaster risk, and big-city access, and lowest on internet speeds and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McCrea expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $238,958. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $81,448 median income, cost of living beats 54% of towns.
Is McCrea safe?
Yes, McCrea is safer than 99% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $107 per resident a year.
Compare McCrea with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McCrea. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McCrea 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.
McCrea detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McCrea: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McCrea: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McCrea: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McCrea: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McCrea 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.