Best PlacesRoaring Spring, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Roaring Spring, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Roaring Spring ranks 9,883rd 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 Roaring Spring
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.
Roaring Spring's strengths and weaknesses
Where Roaring Spring ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 92% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 84% of towns
Where Roaring Spring ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 17% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 30% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 33% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Roaring Spring
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Roaring Spring home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,855, 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 Roaring Spring's effective rate of 1.27%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Roaring Spring
Roaring Spring'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 Roaring Spring.
Who works in Roaring Spring, and how
Work in Roaring Spring centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Roaring Spring
Roaring Spring has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Roaring Spring and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Roaring Spring, month by month
Roaring Spring sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 86° | 73° | 62° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Roaring Spring
The nearest airport, Altoona/Blair County, is about 4 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 97 miles away.
The best schools in and around Roaring Spring
Schools across Roaring Spring average an A−, better than 92% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Northern Bedford Co El SchA+ · 95% proficient
- Martinsburg El SchA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northern Bedford County MsA · 65% proficient
- Spring Cove MsC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Central HsA+ · 95% proficient
- Claysburg-kimmel Sr HsB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Roaring Spring school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Roaring Spring 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 Roaring Spring against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Roaring Spring
Is Roaring Spring a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Roaring Spring ranks 9,883rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, low disaster risk, and good schools, and lowest on property taxes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Roaring Spring expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $161,977. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $72,855 median income, cost of living beats 43% of towns.
Is Roaring Spring safe?
Yes, Roaring Spring is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $175 per resident a year.
Compare Roaring Spring with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Roaring Spring. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Roaring Spring 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.
Roaring Spring detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Roaring Spring: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Roaring Spring: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Roaring Spring: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Roaring Spring: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Roaring Spring 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.