Best PlacesPanther, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Panther, 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.
Panther ranks 17,072nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and biking ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Panther
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.
Panther's strengths and weaknesses
Where Panther ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 95% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 93% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 86% of towns
Where Panther ranks low
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of towns
- Short commute38.0 minutes each way, better than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Panther
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Panther home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,237, 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 Panther's effective rate of 1.08%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Panther
Panther runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Panther.
Who works in Panther, and how
Work in Panther centers on construction and public administration. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 62%
- Work from home 34%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Panther
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Panther.
What the weather is like in Panther, month by month
Panther sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 17° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 81° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Panther
The nearest airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 71 miles away.
The best schools in and around Panther
Schools across Panther average an A−, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wallenpaupack South El SchA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wallenpaupack Area MsB · 45% proficient
Top high schools
- Wallenpaupack Area HsA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Panther school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Panther 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 Panther against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Panther
Is Panther a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Panther ranks 17,072nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, big-city access, and tree cover, and lowest on biking and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Panther expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $279,669. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $79,237 median income, cost of living beats 49% of towns.
Is Panther safe?
Yes, Panther is safer than 78% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $186 per resident a year.
Compare Panther with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Panther. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Panther 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.
Panther detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Panther: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Panther: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Panther: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Panther: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Panther 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.