Best PlacesShannondale, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Shannondale, 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.
Shannondale ranks 23,222nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on heat safety by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Shannondale
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.
Shannondale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Shannondale ranks high
- Heat safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 82% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 81% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 79% of towns
Where Shannondale ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 3% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 21% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Shannondale
A household needs to earn about $43,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Shannondale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,556, 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 Shannondale's effective rate of 0.90%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Shannondale
Shannondale 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 Shannondale.
Who works in Shannondale, and how
Work in Shannondale centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 18%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Shannondale
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Shannondale.
What the weather is like in Shannondale, month by month
Shannondale sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 27° | 19° |
| April | 62° | 48° | 36° |
| July | 83° | 71° | 60° |
| October | 65° | 53° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Shannondale
The nearest airport, Dubois Regional, is about 19 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 66 miles away.
The best schools in and around Shannondale
Schools across Shannondale average an A−, better than 81% of towns.
Top high schools
- Redbank Valley HsB · 50% proficient
- Brookville JshsB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Shannondale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Shannondale 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 Shannondale against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Shannondale
Is Shannondale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Shannondale ranks 23,222nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on heat safety, low crime, and civic engagement, and lowest on a weak job market and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Shannondale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $162,261. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $63,556 median income, cost of living beats 35% of towns.
Is Shannondale safe?
Yes, Shannondale is safer than 91% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $148 per resident a year.
Compare Shannondale with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Shannondale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Shannondale 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.
Shannondale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Shannondale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Shannondale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Shannondale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Shannondale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Shannondale 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.