Best PlacesMcKean, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McKean, 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.
McKean ranks 8,127th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on health care access by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in McKean
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.
McKean's strengths and weaknesses
Where McKean ranks high
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- TransitBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 90% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than 86% of towns
Where McKean ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 14% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 33% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in McKean
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McKean home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,444, 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 McKean's effective rate of 1.12%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in McKean
McKean 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 McKean.
Who works in McKean, and how
Work in McKean centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in McKean
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across McKean.
What the weather is like in McKean, month by month
McKean sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 30° | 23° |
| April | 59° | 48° | 38° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 48° |
Flying in and out of McKean
The nearest airport, Erie International/Tom Ridge Field, is about 6 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cleveland-Hopkins International, about 97 miles away.
The best schools in and around McKean
Schools across McKean average an A, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mckean El SchA · 65% proficient
- Chestnut Hill El SchA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- James W Parker MsA− · 56% proficient
- James S Wilson MsB+ · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- General Mclane HsA · 72% proficient
- Mcdowell HsB · 49% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McKean school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McKean 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 McKean against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in McKean
Is McKean a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McKean ranks 8,127th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on health care access, low disaster risk, and transit, and lowest on noise and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McKean expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $244,155. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $83,444 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is McKean safe?
Yes, McKean is safer than 66% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $327 per resident a year.
Compare McKean with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McKean. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McKean 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.
McKean detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McKean: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McKean: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McKean: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McKean: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McKean 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.