Best PlacesMeridian, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Meridian, 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.
Meridian ranks 7,110th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Meridian
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.
Meridian's strengths and weaknesses
Where Meridian ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 99% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 85% of towns
Where Meridian ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
- Cheap childcare$960 a month, better than only 27% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 28% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Meridian
A household needs to earn about $75,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Meridian home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,147, 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 Meridian's effective rate of 1.02%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Meridian
Meridian 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 Meridian.
Who works in Meridian, and how
Work in Meridian centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Meridian
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Meridian.
What the weather is like in Meridian, month by month
Meridian sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 29° | 20° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 39° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 61° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Meridian
Pittsburgh International sits about 28 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.8 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Meridian
Schools across Meridian average an A−, better than 85% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Connoquenessing El SchA · 67% proficient
- Mcquistion El SchA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Butler Area IhsB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Butler Area ShsA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Meridian school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Meridian 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 Meridian against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Meridian
Is Meridian a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Meridian ranks 7,110th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, health care access, and low disaster risk, and lowest on state infrastructure and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Meridian expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $280,257. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $77,147 median income, cost of living beats 67% of towns.
Is Meridian safe?
Yes, Meridian is safer than 77% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $190 per resident a year.
Compare Meridian with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Meridian. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Meridian 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.
Meridian detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Meridian: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Meridian: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Meridian: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Meridian: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Meridian 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.