Best PlacesSwissdale, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Swissdale, 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.
Swissdale ranks 16,298th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Swissdale
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.
Swissdale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Swissdale ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 86% of towns
- QuietBetter than 81% of towns
- School gradeB+, better than 80% of towns
Where Swissdale ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 67 pleasant days a year, better than only 19% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 20% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Swissdale
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Swissdale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,064, 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 Swissdale's effective rate of 1.03%, 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 Swissdale
Swissdale 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 Swissdale.
Who works in Swissdale, and how
Work in Swissdale centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Swissdale
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Swissdale.
What the weather is like in Swissdale, month by month
Swissdale sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 22° |
| April | 66° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 89° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Swissdale
The nearest airport, State College Regional, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 146 miles away.
The best schools in and around Swissdale
Schools across Swissdale average a B+, better than 80% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Woodward El SchB+ · 55% proficient
Top middle schools
- Central Mountain MsC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Central Mountain HsA · 77% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Swissdale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Swissdale 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 Swissdale against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Swissdale
Is Swissdale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Swissdale ranks 16,298th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, low disaster risk, and health care access, and lowest on empty homes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Swissdale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $198,760. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $79,064 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is Swissdale safe?
Swissdale is safer than 47% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $275 per resident a year.
Compare Swissdale with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Swissdale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Swissdale 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.
Swissdale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Swissdale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Swissdale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Swissdale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Swissdale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Swissdale 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.