Best PlacesWilkes-Barre, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wilkes-Barre, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Wilkes-Barre ranks 1,748th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Wilkes-Barre
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.
The best areas in Wilkes-Barre
The parts of Wilkes-Barre, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Iona
Rolling Mill Hill
Parsons
North End
Mayflower & East End
Scores across Wilkes-Barre run from about the 7th to the 76th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Wilkes-Barre's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wilkes-Barre ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than 86% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of cities
- Short commute20.8 minutes each way, better than 83% of cities
Where Wilkes-Barre ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 4% of cities
- Household income$56,765 median, better than only 5% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 8% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 9% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 12% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Wilkes-Barre
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wilkes-Barre home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,765, 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 Wilkes-Barre's effective rate of 1.68%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wilkes-Barre
Wilkes-Barre's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Wilkes-Barre.
Who works in Wilkes-Barre, and how
Work in Wilkes-Barre centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Wilkes-Barre
Wilkes-Barre has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of cities and more parkland per resident than 91% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Wilkes-Barre and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Wilkes-Barre, month by month
Wilkes-Barre sees roughly 67 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 Wilkes-Barre
The nearest airport, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Newark Liberty International, about 97 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wilkes-Barre
Schools across Wilkes-Barre average a B−, better than 54% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Solomon/plains El SchA · 70% proficient
- Pittston City Intrmd CtrA · 65% proficient
- Dr David W Kistler El SchA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wyoming Valley West MsB− · 40% proficient
- Pittston Area MsC− · 30% proficient
- G A R MsC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Pittston Area ShsA+ · 98% proficient
- Wilkes-barre Area Sd Stem AcademyA+ · 90% proficient
- Wyoming Valley West ShsA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wilkes-Barre school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wilkes-Barre 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 Wilkes-Barre against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Wilkes-Barre suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Wilkes-Barre
Is Wilkes-Barre a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wilkes-Barre ranks 1,748th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cell coverage, walkability, and fast internet, and lowest on empty homes and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wilkes-Barre expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $130,507. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $56,765 median income, cost of living beats 12% of cities.
Is Wilkes-Barre safe?
Wilkes-Barre is safer than 18% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $375 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Wilkes-Barre?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 38 with lows near 21. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 20% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Wilkes-Barre?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Iona, Rolling Mill Hill, and Parsons. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Wilkes-Barre with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wilkes-Barre. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wilkes-Barre 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.
Wilkes-Barre detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wilkes-Barre: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wilkes-Barre: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wilkes-Barre: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wilkes-Barre: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wilkes-Barre 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.