Two College Township communities are again rated among the best places to live in Pennsylvania and the United States, according to a new ranking.
Lemont is ranked the No. 2 place in America to buy a house and No. 1 in Pennsylvania for 2018 by Niche, a website that analyzes public data to provide rankings and ratings of schools and neighborhoods. The village also is rated the No. 7 best place to live in Pennsylvania and No. 34 in the U.S.
Houserville is ranked the No. 2 place to live in Pennsylvania and No. 18 in the United States, as well as No. 3 place to buy a house in the state and No. 15 in the U.S.
Boalsburg came in as the No. 8 place to buy a house and No. 9 best place to live in the state, and 98th best place to live in America.
Other area locales on the list include State College at No. 26 and Park Forest Village at No. 37 among the places to live in Pennsylvania
It’s not the first time the site has recognized Centre Region neighborhoods among the best places to live. In 2017, Houserville was rated No. 3 and Lemont No. 9 in Niche’s Best Places to Live in America.
For the Best Places to Buy a House, Niche analyzed factors of the housing market for more than 15,000 communities nationwide, including home values, taxes, crime rates, and quality of local schools, ‘in an attempt to measure the quality and stability of an area’s real estate market.’
The Best Places to Live ranking looks at factors including crime, public schools, cost of living, job opportunities and local amenities. Data comes from the U.S. Census Bureau, FBI, Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Center for Disease Control, as well as resident reviews.
More than 15,000 communities were evaluated for the rankings.
Earlier this year, Livability.com ranked State College the No. 52 best place to live in the U.S.
