Best PlacesWest Hickory, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Hickory, 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.
West Hickory ranks 36,510th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West Hickory
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.
West Hickory's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Hickory ranks high
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 74% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 73% of towns
Where West Hickory ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 12% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 15% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Hickory
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Hickory home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,688, 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 West Hickory's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 West Hickory
West Hickory 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 West Hickory.
Who works in West Hickory, and how
Work in West Hickory centers on construction and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 80%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in West Hickory
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Hickory.
What the weather is like in West Hickory, month by month
West Hickory sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 26° | 19° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 82° | 71° | 60° |
| October | 64° | 52° | 42° |
Flying in and out of West Hickory
The nearest airport, Dubois Regional, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 85 miles away.
The best schools in and around West Hickory
Schools across West Hickory average a C, better than 36% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- West Forest El SchB · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- West Forest JshsD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Hickory school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Hickory 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 West Hickory against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Hickory
Is West Hickory a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Hickory ranks 36,510th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on quiet, low disaster risk, and a stable housing market, and lowest on empty homes and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Hickory expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $121,062. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $55,688 median income, cost of living beats 24% of towns.
Is West Hickory safe?
West Hickory is safer than 39% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $285 per resident a year.
Compare West Hickory with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Hickory. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Hickory 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.
West Hickory detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Hickory: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Hickory: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Hickory: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Hickory: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Hickory 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.