Best PlacesYork, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the York metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Distance to the water drives a lot of the difference between one part and the next. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Doug Kerr from Albany, NY, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0, via wiki
York ranks 55th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. Its strengths are few empty homes and low crime. The cost shows up in property taxes, the weather, and state infrastructure.
The best neighborhoods in the York 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 York
The towns and districts of the York 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.
Shiloh & Thomasville
Crime runs lower, prices have run up less, and more residents vote.
Stewartstown, Shrewsbury & New Freedom
Streets are more car-dependent and biking is worse.
Dillsburg, Dover & Weigelstown
Tree cover is thicker, though fewer households have young kids.
Glen Rock, Seven Valleys & Jacobus
Local pay stretches further and schools score higher.
Manchester, York Haven & North York
Incomes run higher, though it is noisier.
Red Lion, Dallastown & East York
Hanover & Spring Grove
Scores close to Red Lion, Dallastown & East York, except that fewer adults hold degrees here.
Wrightsville, Mount Wolf & Hallam
Scores close to Hanover & Spring Grove, except that commutes are shorter here.
Downtown York
Transit reaches more jobs, though health care is harder to reach.
York shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 7% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
York's strengths and weaknesses
York ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Few empty homes is the standout, in the top 3% of metro areas. Low crime and big-city access follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Property taxes, the weather, and state infrastructure hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where York ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 97% of metro areas
- Crime safetyBetter than 92% of metro areas
- Big-city accessBetter than 92% of metro areas
- School gradeB+, better than 88% of metro areas
- Voter turnoutBetter than 88% of metro areas
Where York ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 8% of metro areas
- Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 12% of metro areas
- State infrastructureBetter than only 15% of metro areas
- Short commute26.3 minutes each way, better than only 18% of metro areas
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 28% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in York
A household needs to earn about $74,000 a year to comfortably buy the median York home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $89,891, 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 York's effective rate of 1.60%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in York
York runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for York.
Who works in York, and how
Work in York centers on manufacturing and health care & social. 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 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in York
York has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most metro areas and less parkland per resident than most metro areas. The coast is about 65 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of York and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is York growing, and who is moving in?
York has grown about 7% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Baltimore, MD.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving York go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in York, month by month
York sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 32° | 21° |
| April | 67° | 53° | 39° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 70° | 57° | 45° |
Flying in and out of York
The nearest airport, Harrisburg International, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall, about 55 miles away.
The best schools in and around York
Schools across York average a B+, better than 88% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- New Salem El SchA+ · 85% proficient
- Indian Rock El SchA+ · 85% proficient
- Dallastown El SchA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Shallow Brook Inter SchA+ · 85% proficient
- Dallastown Area Intermediate SchA · 65% proficient
- Northeastern MsA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- York Suburban ShsA+ · 91% proficient
- Spring Grove Area HsA+ · 90% proficient
- Red Lion Area ShsA · 77% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every York school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
York 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 York against the other 386 metro areas.
Who York suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of metro areas and 13% already work from home.
Common questions about living in York
Is York a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, York ranks 55th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on few empty homes, low crime, and big-city access, and lowest on property taxes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is York expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $254,842. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $89,891 median income, cost of living beats 80% of metro areas.
Is York safe?
Yes, York is safer than 92% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $197 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in York?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 21. That works out to about 64 pleasant days a year, more than 12% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in York?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Shiloh & Thomasville, Stewartstown, Shrewsbury & New Freedom, and Dillsburg, Dover & Weigelstown. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is York good for families?
Schools beat 88% of metro areas, crime safety beats 92%, and childcare runs $921 a month.
Is York good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 80% of metro areas, though advertised internet speeds beat only 44% of metro areas. About 13% of workers already work from home.
Compare York with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to York. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in York 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.
York detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for York: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in York: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of York: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in York: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
York 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.