Best PlacesSouth New Castle, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around South New Castle, 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.
South New Castle ranks 9,347th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in South New Castle
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 New Castle's strengths and weaknesses
Where South New Castle ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 97% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 95% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of towns
Where South New Castle ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 19% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 70 pleasant days a year, better than only 26% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in South New Castle
A household needs to earn about $25,000 a year to comfortably buy the median South New Castle home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,382, 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 New Castle's effective rate of 0.94%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in South New Castle
South New Castle's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for South New Castle.
Who works in South New Castle, and how
Work in South New Castle centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 23%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in South New Castle
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across South New Castle.
What the weather is like in South New Castle, month by month
South New Castle sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 28° | 20° |
| April | 64° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 86° | 73° | 61° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of South New Castle
Pittsburgh International sits about 34 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.8 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around South New Castle
Schools across South New Castle average an A, better than 95% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Shenango El SchA+ · 80% proficient
Top high schools
- Shenango HsA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every South New Castle school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
South New Castle 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 New Castle against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in South New Castle
Is South New Castle a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, South New Castle ranks 9,347th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, walkability, and low disaster risk, and lowest on crime and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is South New Castle expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $93,300. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $73,382 median income, cost of living beats 67% of towns.
Is South New Castle safe?
South New Castle is safer than 16% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $401 per resident a year.
Compare South New Castle with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to South New Castle. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in South New Castle 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 New Castle detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for South New Castle: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in South New Castle: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of South New Castle: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in South New Castle: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
South New Castle 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.