Best PlacesNorristown, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Norristown, 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.
Norristown ranks 1,008th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on walkability, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Norristown
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.
Norristown's strengths and weaknesses
Where Norristown ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than 87% of cities
- TransitBetter than 73% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 73% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 71% of cities
Where Norristown ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 17% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 19% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Norristown
A household needs to earn about $94,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Norristown home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $97,342, 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 Norristown's effective rate of 1.67%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Norristown
Norristown'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 Norristown.
Who works in Norristown, and how
Work in Norristown centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Norristown
Norristown has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of cities and more parkland per resident than 95% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Norristown and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Norristown, month by month
Norristown sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Norristown
Philadelphia International sits about 19 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 14.8 million passengers in 2025, with 179 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Norristown
Schools across Norristown average a C, better than 36% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Valley Forge El SchA+ · 98% proficient
- Caley El SchA+ · 98% proficient
- Oaks El SchA+ · 90% proficient
Top middle schools
- Valley Forge MsA+ · 90% proficient
- Wissahickon MsA · 64% proficient
- Colonial MsA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Upper Merion HsA+ · 90% proficient
- Conestoga ShsA+ · 89% proficient
- Methacton HsA+ · 86% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Norristown school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Norristown 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 Norristown against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Norristown suits
Common questions about living in Norristown
Is Norristown a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Norristown ranks 1,008th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on walkability, big-city access, and transit, and lowest on state infrastructure and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Norristown expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $322,981. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $97,342 median income, cost of living beats 60% of cities.
Is Norristown safe?
Norristown is safer than 19% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $375 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Norristown?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 25. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 29% of cities.
Is Norristown good for families?
Schools beat 36% of cities, crime safety beats 19%, and childcare runs $1,296 a month.
Compare Norristown with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Norristown. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Norristown 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.
Norristown detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Norristown: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Norristown: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Norristown: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Norristown: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Norristown 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.