Best PlacesMount Gretna Heights, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mount Gretna Heights, 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.
Mount Gretna Heights ranks 12,772nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mount Gretna Heights
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.
Mount Gretna Heights' strengths and weaknesses
Where Mount Gretna Heights ranks high
- BikingBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 91% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 86% of towns
Where Mount Gretna Heights ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 25% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mount Gretna Heights
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mount Gretna Heights home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,711, 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 Mount Gretna Heights' effective rate of 1.11%, 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 Mount Gretna Heights
Mount Gretna Heights 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 Mount Gretna Heights.
Who works in Mount Gretna Heights, and how
Work in Mount Gretna Heights centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Mount Gretna Heights
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mount Gretna Heights.
What the weather is like in Mount Gretna Heights, month by month
Mount Gretna Heights sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 41° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Mount Gretna Heights
The nearest airport, Lancaster, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 69 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mount Gretna Heights
Schools across Mount Gretna Heights average an A−, better than 82% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cornwall El SchA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cedar Crest MsB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Cedar Crest HsA− · 59% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mount Gretna Heights school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mount Gretna Heights 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 Mount Gretna Heights against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mount Gretna Heights
Is Mount Gretna Heights a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mount Gretna Heights ranks 12,772nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on biking, tree cover, and big-city access, and lowest on the weather and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mount Gretna Heights expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $204,929. The overall cost of living runs about 1% above the national average. Set against a $76,711 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is Mount Gretna Heights safe?
Yes, Mount Gretna Heights is safer than 78% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $185 per resident a year.
Compare Mount Gretna Heights with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mount Gretna Heights. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mount Gretna Heights 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.
Mount Gretna Heights detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mount Gretna Heights: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mount Gretna Heights: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mount Gretna Heights: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mount Gretna Heights: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mount Gretna Heights 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.