Best PlacesSouth Auburn, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South Auburn, 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.
South Auburn ranks 11,810th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in South Auburn
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.
South Auburn's strengths and weaknesses
Where South Auburn ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 87% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 86% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of towns
Where South Auburn ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South Auburn
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South Auburn home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,333, 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 South Auburn's effective rate of 0.62%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in South Auburn
South Auburn runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for South Auburn.
Who works in South Auburn, and how
Work in South Auburn centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in South Auburn
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across South Auburn.
What the weather is like in South Auburn, month by month
South Auburn sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 30° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of South Auburn
The nearest airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 119 miles away.
The best schools in and around South Auburn
Schools across South Auburn average a B−, better than 60% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Wyalusing Valley El SchA+ · 80% proficient
- Elk Lake El SchB+ · 54% proficient
Top high schools
- Wyalusing Valley JshsB+ · 55% proficient
- Elk Lake JshsC+ · 36% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South Auburn school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South Auburn 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 South Auburn against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South Auburn
Is South Auburn a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South Auburn ranks 11,810th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, low crime, and civic engagement, and lowest on empty homes and walkability. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South Auburn expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $262,877. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $78,333 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is South Auburn safe?
Yes, South Auburn is safer than 88% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $163 per resident a year.
Compare South Auburn with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South Auburn. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South Auburn 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.
South Auburn detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South Auburn: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South Auburn: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South Auburn: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South Auburn: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South Auburn 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.