Best PlacesVanderbilt, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Vanderbilt, 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.
Vanderbilt ranks 17,684th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Vanderbilt
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.
Vanderbilt's strengths and weaknesses
Where Vanderbilt ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 89% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 78% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 77% of towns
Where Vanderbilt ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 31% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 33% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 36% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Vanderbilt
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Vanderbilt home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,406, 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 Vanderbilt's effective rate of 0.93%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt 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 Vanderbilt.
Who works in Vanderbilt, and how
Work in Vanderbilt centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Vanderbilt
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Vanderbilt.
What the weather is like in Vanderbilt, month by month
Vanderbilt sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 31° | 24° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 65° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Vanderbilt
The nearest airport, Arnold Palmer Regional, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 43 miles away.
The best schools in and around Vanderbilt
Schools across Vanderbilt average a B, better than 68% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Franklin SchA− · 60% proficient
- Dunbar Twp El SchA− · 56% proficient
- Frazier El SchB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Frazier MsC · 34% proficient
- Connellsville Area MsC− · 31% proficient
- Lafayette MsD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Uniontown Area ShsA · 70% proficient
- Frazier HsB · 48% proficient
- Connellsville Area ShsB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Vanderbilt school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Vanderbilt 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 Vanderbilt against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Vanderbilt
Is Vanderbilt a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Vanderbilt ranks 17,684th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, fast internet, and low disaster risk, and lowest on state infrastructure and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Vanderbilt expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $147,469. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $67,406 median income, cost of living beats 44% of towns.
Is Vanderbilt safe?
Yes, Vanderbilt is safer than 71% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $213 per resident a year.
Compare Vanderbilt with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Vanderbilt. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Vanderbilt 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.
Vanderbilt detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Vanderbilt: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Vanderbilt: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Vanderbilt: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Vanderbilt: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Vanderbilt 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.