Best PlacesNiles Valley, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Niles Valley, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Niles Valley ranks 19,070th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Niles Valley
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.
Niles Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Niles Valley ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 84% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 77% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 77% of towns
Where Niles Valley ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 8% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Niles Valley
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Niles Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,223, 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 Niles Valley's effective rate of 1.10%, 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 Niles Valley
Niles Valley runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Niles Valley.
Who works in Niles Valley, and how
Work in Niles Valley centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Niles Valley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Niles Valley.
What the weather is like in Niles Valley, month by month
Niles Valley sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 62° | 47° | 34° |
| July | 87° | 72° | 58° |
| October | 67° | 53° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Niles Valley
The nearest airport, Elmira/Corning Regional, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 176 miles away.
The best schools in and around Niles Valley
Schools across Niles Valley average a B+, better than 77% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Clark Wood El SchA · 70% proficient
- Don Gill El SchA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Rock L Butler MsA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Cowanesque Valley JshsA− · 60% proficient
- Williamson ShsB+ · 55% proficient
- Wellsboro Area HsD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Niles Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Niles Valley 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 Niles Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Niles Valley
Is Niles Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Niles Valley ranks 19,070th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, low disaster risk, and clean air, and lowest on a weak job market and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Niles Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $194,906. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $65,223 median income, cost of living beats 45% of towns.
Is Niles Valley safe?
Yes, Niles Valley is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $115 per resident a year.
Compare Niles Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Niles Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Niles Valley 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.
Niles Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Niles Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Niles Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Niles Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Niles Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Niles Valley 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.