Best PlacesRural Valley, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rural Valley, 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.
Rural Valley ranks 19,127th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rural Valley
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.
Rural Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rural Valley ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 97% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 81% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 79% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 76% of towns
Where Rural Valley ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Short commute31.3 minutes each way, better than only 27% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rural Valley
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rural Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,161, 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 Rural Valley's effective rate of 1.33%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rural Valley
Rural Valley runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Rural Valley.
Who works in Rural Valley, and how
Work in Rural Valley centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Rural Valley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rural Valley.
What the weather is like in Rural Valley, month by month
Rural Valley sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 29° | 22° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 64° | 54° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Rural Valley
The nearest airport, Dubois Regional, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 52 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rural Valley
Schools across Rural Valley average a B+, better than 76% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Elderton El SchA · 63% proficient
- Shannock Valley El SchA− · 58% proficient
Top high schools
- West Shamokin JshsB · 49% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rural Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rural Valley 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 Rural Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rural Valley
Is Rural Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rural Valley ranks 19,127th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low disaster risk, fast internet, and walkability, and lowest on a weak job market and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rural Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $152,527. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $71,161 median income, cost of living beats 52% of towns.
Is Rural Valley safe?
Yes, Rural Valley is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $242 per resident a year.
Compare Rural Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rural Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rural Valley 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.
Rural Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rural Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rural Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rural Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rural Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rural Valley 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.