Best PlacesWilliamsport, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Williamsport metro, 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.
Photo by Djorion, CC BY-SA 3.0, via commons
Williamsport ranks 168th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on the weather and transit. It does better on good schools, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in the Williamsport metro
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 Williamsport
The towns and districts of the Williamsport metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Montoursville & Hughesville
Fewer homes sit empty.
South Williamsport
More households have young kids, though crime runs higher.
Muncy & Montgomery
It is quieter, though streets are more car-dependent.
Jersey Shore
Commutes are longer.
Cogan Station
Tree cover is thicker, though biking is worse.
Downtown Williamsport
Incomes run lower and local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Williamsport run from about the 17th to the 96th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Williamsport's strengths and weaknesses
Williamsport lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Good schools, a stable housing market, and tree cover carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. The weather, transit, and state infrastructure hold the score down. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Williamsport ranks high
- School gradeB+, better than 89% of metro areas
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 89% of metro areas
- Tree shadeBetter than 85% of metro areas
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of metro areas
- Cheap childcare$674 a month, better than 82% of metro areas
Where Williamsport ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of metro areas
- TransitBetter than only 13% of metro areas
- State infrastructureBetter than only 15% of metro areas
- Local economyBetter than only 17% of metro areas
- Household income$68,612 median, better than only 18% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Williamsport
A household needs to earn about $57,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Williamsport home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,612, 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 Williamsport's effective rate of 1.29%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Williamsport
Williamsport 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 Williamsport.
Who works in Williamsport, and how
Work in Williamsport centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Williamsport
Williamsport has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most metro areas and more parkland per resident than 79% of metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Williamsport and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Williamsport growing, and who is moving in?
Williamsport has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Philadelphia, PA.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Williamsport go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Williamsport, month by month
Williamsport sees roughly 64 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 Williamsport
The nearest airport, State College Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 133 miles away.
The best schools in and around Williamsport
Schools across Williamsport average a B+, better than 89% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Central El SchA · 70% proficient
- Lyter El SchA · 65% proficient
- Donald E. Schick SchA− · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lycoming Valley Intrmd SchA+ · 75% proficient
- Curtin Intrmd SchA− · 55% proficient
- Loyalsock Twp MsB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Williamsport Area ShsA+ · 80% proficient
- Jersey Shore Area ShsA− · 67% proficient
- Montoursville Area ShsA− · 65% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Williamsport school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Williamsport 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 Williamsport against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Williamsport suits
Common questions about living in Williamsport
Is Williamsport a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Williamsport ranks 168th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on good schools, a stable housing market, and tree cover, and lowest on the weather and transit. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Williamsport expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $204,881. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $68,612 median income, cost of living beats 32% of metro areas.
Is Williamsport safe?
Yes, Williamsport is safer than 66% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $261 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Williamsport?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 22. That works out to about 64 pleasant days a year, more than 11% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Williamsport?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Montoursville & Hughesville, South Williamsport, and Muncy & Montgomery. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Williamsport good for families?
Schools beat 89% of metro areas, crime safety beats 66%, and childcare runs $674 a month.
Is Williamsport good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 32% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 50% of metro areas. About 10% of workers already work from home.
Compare Williamsport with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Williamsport. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Williamsport 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.
Williamsport detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Williamsport: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Williamsport: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Williamsport: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Williamsport: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Williamsport 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.