Best PlacesMontour County, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Montour County, 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.
Montour County ranks 92nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Montour 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.
Montour County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Montour County ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 99% of counties
- School gradeA, better than 97% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 96% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 94% of counties
Where Montour County ranks low
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 12% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 19% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 23% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Montour County
A household needs to earn about $72,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Montour County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $82,540, 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 Montour County's effective rate of 0.99%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Montour County
Montour County 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 Montour County.
Who works in Montour County, and how
Work in Montour County 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 78%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Montour County
Montour County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 99% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Montour County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Montour County growing, and who is moving in?
Montour County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Philadelphia, PA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Montour County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Montour County, month by month
Montour County sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 38° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Montour County
The nearest airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International, is about 53 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 107 miles away.
The best schools in and around Montour County
Schools across Montour County average an A, better than 97% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Liberty-valley El SchA · 69% proficient
- Ward L Myers El SchA · 67% proficient
- Carl G Renn El SchA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- Warrior Run MsA · 60% proficient
- Danville Area MsA− · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Danville Area ShsA+ · 91% proficient
- Warrior Run HsA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Montour County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Montour 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 Montour County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Montour County
Is Montour County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Montour County ranks 92nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on low crime, few empty homes, and good schools, and lowest on taxes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Montour County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $267,109. The overall cost of living runs about 2% below the national average. Set against a $82,540 median income, cost of living beats 67% of counties.
Is Montour County safe?
Yes, Montour County is safer than 99% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $159 per resident a year.
Compare Montour County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Montour County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Montour 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.
Montour County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Montour County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Montour County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Montour County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Montour County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Montour 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.