Best PlacesMechanics Grove, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mechanics Grove, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Mechanics Grove ranks 6,092nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Mechanics Grove
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.
Mechanics Grove's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mechanics Grove ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 93% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 86% of towns
Where Mechanics Grove ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,106 a month, better than only 16% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 18% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 22% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mechanics Grove
A household needs to earn about $86,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mechanics Grove home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $100,671, 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 Mechanics Grove's effective rate of 0.85%, 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 Mechanics Grove
Mechanics Grove runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mechanics Grove.
Who works in Mechanics Grove, and how
Work in Mechanics Grove centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Mechanics Grove
The coast is about 41 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Mechanics Grove, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mechanics Grove, month by month
Mechanics Grove sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 39, 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 | 39° | 32° | 26° |
| April | 62° | 53° | 44° |
| July | 84° | 76° | 68° |
| October | 66° | 57° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Mechanics Grove
The nearest airport, Lancaster, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 50 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mechanics Grove
Schools across Mechanics Grove average an A−, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Clermont El SchA+ · 75% proficient
- Quarryville El SchB · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Solanco HsA+ · 85% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mechanics Grove school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mechanics Grove 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 Mechanics Grove against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mechanics Grove
Is Mechanics Grove a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mechanics Grove ranks 6,092nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, big-city access, and fast internet, and lowest on childcare costs and taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mechanics Grove expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $325,200. The overall cost of living runs about 2% above the national average. Set against a $100,671 median income, cost of living beats 73% of towns.
Is Mechanics Grove safe?
Yes, Mechanics Grove is safer than 86% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $165 per resident a year.
Compare Mechanics Grove with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mechanics Grove. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mechanics Grove 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.
Mechanics Grove detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mechanics Grove: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mechanics Grove: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mechanics Grove: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mechanics Grove: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mechanics Grove 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.