Best PlacesWayne, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Wayne area, 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.
Wayne ranks 10th of 2098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on good schools and lowest on state infrastructure.
The best neighborhoods in Wayne
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.
Wayne's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wayne ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 100% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 100% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 100% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of cities
- Household income$189,206 median, better than 99% of cities
Where Wayne ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 14% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 16% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 18% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 30% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 31% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Wayne
A household needs to earn about $232,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wayne home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $189,206, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment and a 6.8% 30-year fixed rate. The rate updates weekly from Freddie Mac; property tax uses Wayne's effective rate against the median home value.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first ten years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Wayne
Wayne's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Wayne.
Who works in Wayne, and how
Work in Wayne centers on professional & technical and education. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 54%
- Work from home 31%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Wayne
Wayne has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of cities and more parkland per resident than 87% of cities. The map and measures below show how they vary by area.
What the weather is like in Wayne, month by month
Wayne sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 25. Spring and fall carry most of the comfortable stretch.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 32° | 25° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Wayne
Philadelphia International sits about 15 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 14.8 million passengers in 2025, with 179 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Wayne
Schools across Wayne average an A+, better than 100% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Radnor El SchA+ · 98% proficient
- Valley Forge El SchA+ · 98% proficient
- New Eagle El SchA+ · 98% proficient
Top middle schools
- Valley Forge MsA+ · 90% proficient
- Tredyffrin-easttown MsA+ · 85% proficient
- Radnor MsA+ · 80% proficient
Top high schools
- Radnor ShsA+ · 92% proficient
- Upper Merion HsA+ · 90% proficient
- Great Valley HsA+ · 90% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wayne school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wayne 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 Wayne against the other 2097 cities.
Who Wayne suits
Families
Schools beat 100% of the country and crime runs low. Compare neighborhoods on the map for the best fit.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of cities and 32% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Wayne
Is Wayne a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wayne ranks 10th of 2098 cities. It scores highest on good schools, health care access, and an educated workforce, and lowest on state infrastructure and fast internet. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wayne expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $836,014. The overall cost of living runs about 15% above the national average. Set against a $189,206 median income, cost of living beats 99% of cities.
Is Wayne safe?
Yes, Wayne is safer than 63% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $250 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Wayne?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 25. The area gets its pleasant stretches in spring and fall.
Is Wayne good for families?
Schools beat 100% of cities, and safety is best away from the urban core. Home prices are usually the catch in the strongest school areas.
Compare Wayne with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wayne. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wayne 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.
Wayne detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wayne: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wayne: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wayne: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wayne: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wayne 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.