Best PlacesMontgomery, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Montgomery, 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.
Montgomery ranks 17,923rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on population health, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Montgomery
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.
Montgomery's strengths and weaknesses
Where Montgomery ranks high
- Health outlookBetter than 85% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 84% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 83% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 83% of towns
Where Montgomery ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 16% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 18% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Montgomery
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Montgomery home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,480, 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 Montgomery's effective rate of 1.23%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Montgomery
Montgomery'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.
Who works in Montgomery, and how
Work in Montgomery centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Montgomery
Montgomery has more parkland per resident than 96% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Montgomery and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Montgomery, month by month
Montgomery sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 22° |
| April | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 89° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Montgomery
The nearest airport, State College Regional, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 125 miles away.
The best schools in and around Montgomery
Schools across Montgomery average a B+, better than 77% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Ward L Myers El SchA · 67% proficient
- Montgomery El SchA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Warrior Run MsA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Warrior Run HsA · 70% proficient
- Muncy JshsB+ · 57% proficient
- Montgomery JshsB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Montgomery school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Montgomery 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Montgomery
Is Montgomery a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Montgomery ranks 17,923rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on population health, few empty homes, and walkability, and lowest on the weather and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Montgomery expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $195,231. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $70,480 median income, cost of living beats 48% of towns.
Is Montgomery safe?
Montgomery is safer than 47% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $268 per resident a year.
Compare Montgomery with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Montgomery. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Montgomery 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Montgomery: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Montgomery: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Montgomery: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Montgomery: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Montgomery 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.