Best PlacesSusquehanna County, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Susquehanna 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.
Susquehanna County ranks 1,200th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Susquehanna 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.
Susquehanna County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Susquehanna County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 92% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 89% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than 87% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of counties
Where Susquehanna County ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than only 14% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 16% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 17% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Susquehanna County
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Susquehanna County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $70,419, 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 Susquehanna County's effective rate of 0.97%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Susquehanna County
Susquehanna County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Susquehanna County.
Who works in Susquehanna County, and how
Work in Susquehanna County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Susquehanna County
Susquehanna County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 94% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Susquehanna County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Susquehanna County growing, and who is moving in?
Susquehanna County has lost about 10% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Scranton, PA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Susquehanna County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Susquehanna County, month by month
Susquehanna County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 17. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 25° | 17° |
| April | 58° | 45° | 34° |
| July | 82° | 70° | 60° |
| October | 62° | 51° | 42° |
Flying in and out of Susquehanna County
The nearest airport, Greater Binghamton/Edwin A Link Field, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 114 miles away.
The best schools in and around Susquehanna County
Schools across Susquehanna County average a B, better than 77% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Sarah W Starkweather El SchA+ · 98% proficient
- Susquehanna Community El SchA · 70% proficient
- Choconut Valley El SchA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- E N Peirce MsA · 65% proficient
- Blue Ridge MsB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- West Chester Henderson HsA · 79% proficient
- Blue Ridge HsB+ · 55% proficient
- Mountain View JshsB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Susquehanna County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Susquehanna 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 Susquehanna County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Susquehanna County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Susquehanna County
Is Susquehanna County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Susquehanna County ranks 1,200th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, big-city access, and tree cover, and lowest on empty homes and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Susquehanna County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $218,970. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $70,419 median income, cost of living beats 57% of counties.
Is Susquehanna County safe?
Yes, Susquehanna County is safer than 87% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $218 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Susquehanna County?
July highs average about 82 degrees, and January highs near 33 with lows near 17. That works out to about 77 pleasant days a year, more than 33% of counties.
Is Susquehanna County good for families?
Schools beat 77% of counties, crime safety beats 87%, and childcare runs $948 a month.
Compare Susquehanna County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Susquehanna County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Susquehanna 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.
Susquehanna County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Susquehanna County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Susquehanna County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Susquehanna County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Susquehanna County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Susquehanna 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.