Best PlacesUpper Exeter, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Upper Exeter, 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.
Upper Exeter ranks 13,769th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on big-city access by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Upper Exeter
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.
Upper Exeter's strengths and weaknesses
Where Upper Exeter ranks high
- Big-city accessBetter than 90% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 90% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 88% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 86% of towns
Where Upper Exeter ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 21% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Upper Exeter
A household needs to earn about $71,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Upper Exeter home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $74,227, 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 Upper Exeter's effective rate of 1.32%, 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 Upper Exeter
Upper Exeter runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Upper Exeter.
Who works in Upper Exeter, and how
Work in Upper Exeter centers on health care & social and public administration. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Upper Exeter
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Upper Exeter.
What the weather is like in Upper Exeter, month by month
Upper Exeter sees roughly 68 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 Upper Exeter
The nearest airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International, is about 8 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 100 miles away.
The best schools in and around Upper Exeter
Schools across Upper Exeter average an A, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Newton-ransom SchA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Abington Heights MsA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Abington Heights HsA+ · 83% proficient
- Wyoming Area Sec CtrA− · 65% proficient
- Tunkhannock HsB · 50% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Upper Exeter school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Upper Exeter 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 Upper Exeter against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Upper Exeter
Is Upper Exeter a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Upper Exeter ranks 13,769th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on big-city access, good schools, and health care access, and lowest on a weak job market and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Upper Exeter expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $252,135. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $74,227 median income, cost of living beats 56% of towns.
Is Upper Exeter safe?
Yes, Upper Exeter is safer than 84% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $171 per resident a year.
Compare Upper Exeter with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Upper Exeter. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Upper Exeter 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.
Upper Exeter detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Upper Exeter: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Upper Exeter: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Upper Exeter: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Upper Exeter: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Upper Exeter 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.