Best PlacesRefton, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Refton, 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.
Refton ranks 1,166th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Refton
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.
Refton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Refton ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of towns
- Household income$159,964 median, better than 98% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 97% of towns
Where Refton ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 56 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of towns
- Short commute38.7 minutes each way, better than only 7% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 14% of towns
- Cheap childcare$1,106 a month, better than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Refton
A household needs to earn about $116,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Refton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $159,964, 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 Refton's effective rate of 1.39%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Refton
Refton runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Refton.
Who works in Refton, and how
Work in Refton centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 22%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Refton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Refton.
What the weather is like in Refton, month by month
Refton sees roughly 56 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 41° |
| July | 89° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Refton
The nearest airport, Lancaster, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around Refton
Schools across Refton average an A−, better than 82% of towns.
Top middle schools
- Martin Meylin MsA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Lampeter-strasburg ShsB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Refton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Refton 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 Refton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Refton
Is Refton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Refton ranks 1,166th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, few empty homes, and high incomes, and lowest on the weather and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Refton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $411,700. The overall cost of living runs about 3% above the national average. Set against a $159,964 median income, cost of living beats 97% of towns.
Is Refton safe?
Yes, Refton is safer than 100% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $100 per resident a year.
Compare Refton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Refton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Refton 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.
Refton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Refton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Refton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Refton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Refton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Refton 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.