Living in Scranton, PA
Small city in Pennsylvania
Scranton is a small city in Pennsylvania, home to about 76,000 people, with 408,000 living within 31 mi. Day to day, much of daily life is walkable. Life moves at a moderate pace, and homes are mostly apartments.
Is Scranton a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Affordable housing: a typical 3-bedroom home is about $203k and rents for $1,630 a month
- Mild summers: highs around 82°F
- Low natural disaster risk: 8 federally declared disasters since 2000
👎 Cons
- Fewer family amenities than most places
- Cloudier than most places
- Fewer graduates: 23% of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher
- Smaller job market: about 408,000 people live within 31 mi
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Scranton ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Scranton: common questions
What is the cost of living in Scranton?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $203k, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $1,630 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are below the US average (index 94, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Scranton?
Pennsylvania collects about $1,376 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 2.08% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Scranton safe?
Violent crime is well above the national rate (4.1× in FBI 2019 data).
What is the weather like in Scranton?
Scranton has cold winters: winter days average around 38°F and summer days around 82°F, with roughly 45″ of snow a year.
Does Scranton get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is low, mainly from flooding: 8 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 0.42 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Scranton?
The nearest major airport is EWR, about 92 mi away.
How Scranton scores
Each bar compares Scranton 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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Is Scranton right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.