Best PlacesMount Wilson, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mount Wilson, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Mount Wilson ranks 2,892nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on civic engagement by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mount Wilson
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 Wilson's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mount Wilson ranks high
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 93% of towns
- Household income$116,925 median, better than 92% of towns
Where Mount Wilson ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 22% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mount Wilson
A household needs to earn about $92,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mount Wilson home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $116,925, 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 Wilson's effective rate of 1.37%, 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 Mount Wilson
Mount Wilson'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 Mount Wilson.
Who works in Mount Wilson, and how
Work in Mount Wilson centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 77%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Mount Wilson
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mount Wilson.
What the weather is like in Mount Wilson, month by month
Mount Wilson sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 31° | 22° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Mount Wilson
The nearest airport, Harrisburg International, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 73 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mount Wilson
Schools across Mount Wilson average an A−, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lingle Avenue El SchA+ · 85% proficient
- Annville El SchA− · 56% proficient
Top middle schools
- Palmyra Area MsA · 63% proficient
- Annville-cleona MsB+ · 49% proficient
Top high schools
- Palmyra Area ShsA− · 60% proficient
- Annville Cleona HsC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mount Wilson school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mount Wilson 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 Wilson against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mount Wilson
Is Mount Wilson a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mount Wilson ranks 2,892nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on civic engagement, tree cover, and what local pay buys, and lowest on the weather and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mount Wilson expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $326,571. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $116,925 median income, cost of living beats 94% of towns.
Is Mount Wilson safe?
Yes, Mount Wilson is safer than 91% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $152 per resident a year.
Compare Mount Wilson with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mount Wilson. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mount Wilson 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 Wilson detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mount Wilson: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mount Wilson: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mount Wilson: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mount Wilson: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mount Wilson 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.