Living in Harrisburg, PA
Small city in Pennsylvania
Harrisburg is a small city in Pennsylvania, home to about 50,000 people, with 572,000 living within 31 mi. Day to day, you can walk or take transit almost everywhere. Life moves at a fast pace, and homes are mostly apartments.
Is Harrisburg a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Affordable housing: a typical 3-bedroom home is about $264k and rents for $1,920 a month
- Strong healthcare: 8 top-rated (4–5★) hospitals within 31 mi
- Mild summers: highs around 83°F
- Dog-friendly: 12 dog parks within 9 mi
👎 Cons
- Cloudier than most places
- Fewer graduates: 26% of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher
- Smaller job market: about 572,000 people live within 31 mi
- Fewer family amenities than most places
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Harrisburg ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Harrisburg: common questions
What is the cost of living in Harrisburg?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $264k, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $1,920 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are close to the US average (index 99, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Harrisburg?
Pennsylvania collects about $1,376 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 2.03% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Harrisburg safe?
Violent crime is well above the national rate (2.4× in FBI 2019 data).
What is the weather like in Harrisburg?
Harrisburg has cold winters: winter days average around 39°F and summer days around 83°F, with roughly 24″ of snow a year.
Does Harrisburg get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is moderate, mainly from flooding: 8 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 0.52 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Harrisburg?
The nearest major airport is BWI, about 77 mi away.
How Harrisburg scores
Each bar compares Harrisburg with the other 1143 places in Best Life Fit Me. A dot shows where it sits between two ends, such as major metro and small town; neither end is better. Coloured bars run from poor (red) to excellent (green).
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Nearby
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Is Harrisburg right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.