Best PlacesSchuylkill County, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Schuylkill County, 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.
Schuylkill County ranks 1,240th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on big-city access and walkability. The weaker spots are property taxes, the weather, and state infrastructure.
The best neighborhoods in Schuylkill County
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.
The best areas in Schuylkill County
The parts of Schuylkill County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Orwigsburg
Incomes run higher, fewer homes sit empty, and more households have young kids.
Schuylkill Haven & Auburn
More adults hold degrees and crime runs lower.
Pine Grove, Tower City & Tremont
Prices have run up less, though streets are more car-dependent.
New Ringgold
Tree cover is thicker and schools score higher.
Minersville & Ashland
Local pay stretches further.
Pottsville
Homes cost less, though it is noisier.
Shenandoah & Frackville
Fewer residents vote.
Tamaqua, Mahanoy City & Mcadoo
Health care is harder to reach.
Scores across Schuylkill County run from about the 5th to the 86th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Schuylkill County's strengths and weaknesses
Schuylkill County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Big-city access, walkability, and low disaster risk carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Property taxes, the weather, and state infrastructure hold the score down. Cost swings more from one part of Schuylkill County to another than it does between Schuylkill County and its neighbors, which the map below shows.
Where Schuylkill County ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 91% of counties
- School gradeB, better than 79% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 75% of counties
Where Schuylkill County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 23% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Schuylkill County
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Schuylkill County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,895, 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 Schuylkill County's effective rate of 1.44%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Schuylkill County
Schuylkill County runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Schuylkill County.
Who works in Schuylkill County, and how
Work in Schuylkill County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Schuylkill County
Schuylkill County has more parkland per resident than 65% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 87% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Schuylkill County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Schuylkill County growing, and who is moving in?
Schuylkill County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Reading, PA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Schuylkill County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Schuylkill County, month by month
Schuylkill County sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 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° | 42° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Schuylkill County
The nearest airport, Lehigh Valley International, is about 40 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 77 miles away.
The best schools in and around Schuylkill County
Schools across Schuylkill County average a B, better than 79% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mahantongo El SchA+ · 90% proficient
- Pine Grove El SchA+ · 85% proficient
- Tamaqua El SchA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Panther Valley Intermediate SchA · 60% proficient
- Centerville MsA− · 57% proficient
- Tamaqua Area MsB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Tamaqua Area ShsA · 75% proficient
- Pottsville Area HsA− · 60% proficient
- Williams Valley JshsB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Schuylkill County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Schuylkill County 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 Schuylkill County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Schuylkill County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Schuylkill County
Is Schuylkill County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Schuylkill County ranks 1,240th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on big-city access, walkability, and low disaster risk, and lowest on property taxes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Schuylkill County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $155,271. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $71,895 median income, cost of living beats 56% of counties.
Is Schuylkill County safe?
Schuylkill County is safer than 47% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $311 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Schuylkill County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 24. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 13% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Schuylkill County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Orwigsburg, Schuylkill Haven & Auburn, and Pine Grove, Tower City & Tremont. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Schuylkill County good for families?
Schools beat 79% of counties, crime safety beats 47%, and childcare runs $655 a month.
Is Schuylkill County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 56% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 70% of counties. About 7% of workers already work from home.
Compare Schuylkill County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Schuylkill County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Schuylkill County 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.
Schuylkill County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Schuylkill County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Schuylkill County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Schuylkill County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Schuylkill County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Schuylkill County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.