Best PlacesMontgomery County, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Montgomery County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Montgomery County ranks 40th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $129,251, wages outrun the cost of living, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are noise, childcare costs, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Montgomery County
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.
The best areas in Montgomery County
The parts of Montgomery County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Conshohocken, Wynnewood & Plymouth Meeting
Streets are more walkable, transit reaches more jobs, and more adults hold degrees.
North Wales
Local pay stretches further, though fewer households have young kids.
Collegeville & Royersford
Schools score higher.
King of Prussia
Biking is better, though crime runs higher.
Ambler, Willow Grove & Hatboro
Scores close to King of Prussia, except that tree cover is thicker here.
Lansdale, Hatfield & Souderton
Prices have run up less, though incomes run lower.
Glenside, Elkins Park & Jenkintown
Scores close to Lansdale, Hatfield & Souderton, except that health care is easier to reach here.
Pottstown, Harleysville & Gilbertsville
It is quieter and homes cost less.
Norristown & Blue Bell
Montgomery County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 6% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Montgomery County's strengths and weaknesses
Montgomery County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Big-city access is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. What local pay buys and high incomes follow.
The one real hole is noise, near the bottom of the country. Childcare costs and property taxes also cost it ground. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Montgomery County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 98% of counties
- Household income$129,251 median, better than 98% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of counties
Where Montgomery County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 5% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,296 a month, better than only 7% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Montgomery County
A household needs to earn about $131,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Montgomery County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $129,251; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Montgomery County's effective rate of 1.34%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Montgomery County
Montgomery County'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 Montgomery County.
Who works in Montgomery County, and how
Work in Montgomery County centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Montgomery County
Montgomery County has more parkland per resident than 85% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Montgomery County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Montgomery County growing, and who is moving in?
Montgomery County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Philadelphia, PA metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Montgomery County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Montgomery County, month by month
Montgomery County sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Montgomery County
Philadelphia International sits about 21 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 14.8 million passengers in 2025, with 179 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Montgomery County
Schools across Montgomery County average an A−, better than 95% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Fort Washington El SchA+ · 98% proficient
- Caley El SchA+ · 98% proficient
- West Broad Street El SchA+ · 95% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bala-cynwyd MsA+ · 77% proficient
- Welsh Valley MsA+ · 75% proficient
- Spring-ford Ms 8th Grade CtrA+ · 75% proficient
Top high schools
- Spring-ford Shs 9-12 CtrA+ · 98% proficient
- Upper Dublin HsA+ · 91% proficient
- Lower Merion HsA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Montgomery County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Montgomery County 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 Montgomery County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Montgomery County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 23% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Montgomery County
Is Montgomery County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Montgomery County ranks 40th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, what local pay buys, and high incomes, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Montgomery County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $467,778. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $129,251 median income, cost of living beats 98% of counties.
Is Montgomery County safe?
Yes, Montgomery County is safer than 60% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $276 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Montgomery County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 25. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 17% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Montgomery County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Conshohocken, Wynnewood & Plymouth Meeting, North Wales, and Collegeville & Royersford. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Montgomery County good for families?
Schools beat 95% of counties, crime safety beats 60%, and childcare runs $1,296 a month.
Is Montgomery County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 98% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 63% of counties. About 23% of workers already work from home.
Compare Montgomery County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Montgomery County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Montgomery County 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.
Montgomery County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Montgomery County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Montgomery County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Montgomery County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Montgomery County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Montgomery County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.