Best PlacesParkesburg, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Parkesburg, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Parkesburg ranks 5,514th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Parkesburg
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.
Parkesburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Parkesburg ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of towns
- TransitBetter than 95% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 93% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 92% of towns
Where Parkesburg ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 5% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,310 a month, better than only 9% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 15% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Parkesburg
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Parkesburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $90,849; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Parkesburg's effective rate of 1.81%, 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 Parkesburg
Parkesburg runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Parkesburg.
Who works in Parkesburg, and how
Work in Parkesburg centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Parkesburg
The coast is about 46 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Parkesburg, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Parkesburg, month by month
Parkesburg sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 32° | 26° |
| April | 62° | 53° | 44° |
| July | 84° | 76° | 68° |
| October | 66° | 57° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Parkesburg
The nearest airport, Lancaster, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 37 miles away.
The best schools in and around Parkesburg
Schools across Parkesburg average a B+, better than 76% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Octorara El SchA · 70% proficient
- Kings Highway El SchC · 35% proficient
- Rainbow El SchC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Octorara Area JshsB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Parkesburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Parkesburg 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 Parkesburg against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Parkesburg
Is Parkesburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Parkesburg ranks 5,514th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on few empty homes, big-city access, and transit, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Parkesburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $312,150. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $90,849 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is Parkesburg safe?
Yes, Parkesburg is safer than 83% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $178 per resident a year.
Compare Parkesburg with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Parkesburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Parkesburg 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.
Parkesburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Parkesburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Parkesburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Parkesburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Parkesburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Parkesburg 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.