Best PlacesNorthumberland, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Northumberland, 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.
Northumberland ranks 11,176th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Northumberland
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.
Northumberland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Northumberland ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 92% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 87% of towns
Where Northumberland ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 18% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Northumberland
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Northumberland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,140, 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 Northumberland's effective rate of 1.39%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Northumberland
Northumberland 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 Northumberland.
Who works in Northumberland, and how
Work in Northumberland centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Northumberland
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Northumberland.
What the weather is like in Northumberland, month by month
Northumberland 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 Northumberland
The nearest airport, Harrisburg International, is about 49 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 108 miles away.
The best schools in and around Northumberland
Schools across Northumberland average an A, better than 92% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Priestley SchA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Selinsgrove Area MsA · 65% proficient
- Danville Area MsA− · 54% proficient
- Shikellamy MsB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Danville Area ShsA+ · 91% proficient
- Shikellamy HsA · 70% proficient
- Milton HsA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Northumberland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Northumberland 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 Northumberland against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Northumberland
Is Northumberland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Northumberland ranks 11,176th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, good schools, and walkability, and lowest on noise and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Northumberland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $197,971. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $69,140 median income, cost of living beats 41% of towns.
Is Northumberland safe?
Yes, Northumberland is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $164 per resident a year.
Compare Northumberland with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Northumberland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Northumberland 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.
Northumberland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Northumberland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Northumberland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Northumberland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Northumberland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Northumberland 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.