Best PlacesPalmyra, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Palmyra, 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.
Palmyra ranks 1,578th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Palmyra
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.
Palmyra's strengths and weaknesses
Where Palmyra ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 95% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 94% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of towns
Where Palmyra ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 15% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 15% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 19% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Palmyra
A household needs to earn about $84,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Palmyra home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $101,785, 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 Palmyra's effective rate of 1.36%, 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 Palmyra
Palmyra'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 Palmyra.
Who works in Palmyra, and how
Work in Palmyra centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 21%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Palmyra
Palmyra has more parkland per resident than 89% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Palmyra and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Palmyra, month by month
Palmyra sees roughly 64 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 Palmyra
The nearest airport, Harrisburg International, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 77 miles away.
The best schools in and around Palmyra
Schools across Palmyra average an A, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Forge Road El SchA+ · 90% proficient
- Pine Street El SchA+ · 90% proficient
- Lingle Avenue El SchA+ · 85% proficient
Top middle schools
- Palmyra Area MsA · 63% proficient
- Annville-cleona MsB+ · 49% proficient
- Lower Dauphin MsB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Lower Dauphin HsA · 71% proficient
- Hershey HsA · 68% proficient
- Palmyra Area ShsA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Palmyra school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Palmyra 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 Palmyra against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Palmyra suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 86% of towns, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 21% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Palmyra
Is Palmyra a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Palmyra ranks 1,578th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, low crime, and good schools, and lowest on property taxes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Palmyra expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $296,927. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $101,785 median income, cost of living beats 86% of towns.
Is Palmyra safe?
Yes, Palmyra is safer than 95% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $137 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Palmyra?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 22. That works out to about 64 pleasant days a year, more than 15% of towns.
Is Palmyra good for families?
Schools beat 94% of towns, crime safety beats 95%, and childcare runs $891 a month.
Compare Palmyra with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Palmyra. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Palmyra 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.
Palmyra detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Palmyra: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Palmyra: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Palmyra: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Palmyra: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Palmyra 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.