Best PlacesSlateford, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Slateford, 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.
Slateford ranks 18,166th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low crime by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Slateford
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.
Slateford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Slateford ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 98% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 82% of towns
Where Slateford ranks low
- Short commute50.4 minutes each way, better than only 1% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 10% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 18% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Slateford
A household needs to earn about $90,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Slateford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $76,379, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Slateford's effective rate of 1.23%, 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 Slateford
Slateford runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Slateford.
Who works in Slateford, and how
Work in Slateford centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Slateford
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Slateford.
What the weather is like in Slateford, month by month
Slateford sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 81 degrees. January highs sit near 34, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 34° | 25° | 17° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 81° | 70° | 59° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 41° |
Flying in and out of Slateford
The nearest airport, Lehigh Valley International, is about 26 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around Slateford
Schools across Slateford average a B+, better than 77% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- B F Morey El SchA− · 60% proficient
- Smithfield El SchB− · 43% proficient
- Knowlton Township Board Of EducationD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bangor Area MsB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Bangor Area HsA · 73% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Slateford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Slateford 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 Slateford against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Slateford
Is Slateford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Slateford ranks 18,166th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low crime, heat safety, and big-city access, and lowest on long commutes and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Slateford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $323,700. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $76,379 median income, cost of living beats 52% of towns.
Is Slateford safe?
Yes, Slateford is safer than 98% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $110 per resident a year.
Compare Slateford with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Slateford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Slateford 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.
Slateford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Slateford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Slateford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Slateford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Slateford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Slateford 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.