Living in Wilkes-Barre, PA
Small city in Pennsylvania
Wilkes-Barre is a small city in Pennsylvania, home to about 44,000 people, with 504,000 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 Wilkes-Barre a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Affordable housing: a typical 3-bedroom home is about $183k and rents for $1,630 a month
- Mild summers: highs around 82°F
- Low natural disaster risk: 8 federally declared disasters since 2000
- Great outdoors: hills or mountains nearby
👎 Cons
- Cloudier than most places
- Fewer family amenities than most places
- Fewer graduates: 19% of adults have a bachelor's degree or higher
- Smaller job market: about 504,000 people live within 31 mi
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Wilkes-Barre ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Wilkes-Barre: common questions
What is the cost of living in Wilkes-Barre?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $183k, 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 Wilkes-Barre?
Pennsylvania collects about $1,376 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 1.98% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Wilkes-Barre safe?
Violent crime is somewhat above the national rate (1.6× in FBI 2019 data).
What is the weather like in Wilkes-Barre?
Wilkes-Barre has cold winters: winter days average around 38°F and summer days around 82°F, with roughly 45″ of snow a year.
Does Wilkes-Barre 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 0.49 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Wilkes-Barre?
The nearest major airport is EWR, about 97 mi away.
How Wilkes-Barre scores
Each bar compares Wilkes-Barre 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 Wilkes-Barre right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.