Best PlacesOval, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oval, 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.
Oval ranks 10,049th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oval
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.
Oval's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oval ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- QuietBetter than 87% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 80% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 79% of towns
Where Oval ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 21% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 21% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Oval
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oval home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,763, 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 Oval's effective rate of 1.09%, 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 Oval
Oval runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oval.
Who works in Oval, and how
Work in Oval centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Oval
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Oval.
What the weather is like in Oval, month by month
Oval sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 22° |
| April | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 89° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Oval
The nearest airport, State College Regional, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 135 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oval
Schools across Oval average a B+, better than 79% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Montgomery El SchA− · 58% proficient
- Jersey Shore Area El SchB+ · 52% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jersey Shore MsB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Jersey Shore Area ShsA− · 67% proficient
- Montgomery JshsB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oval school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oval 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 Oval against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Oval
Is Oval a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oval ranks 10,049th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, quiet, and low disaster risk, and lowest on state infrastructure and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oval expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $212,055. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $71,763 median income, cost of living beats 55% of towns.
Is Oval safe?
Yes, Oval is safer than 93% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $143 per resident a year.
Compare Oval with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oval. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oval 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.
Oval detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oval: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oval: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oval: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oval: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oval 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.