89 Best Pennsylvania Towns To Get A Home - Despite What You've Heard

A study listed 89 Pennsylvania towns as the best for owning a home, even though many of them have been at the bottom of some "best-of" lists.

Indeed, some of them - Allentown, Bloomsburg and Oil City, to name a few - appeared on a recent list that identified the 100 Pennsylvania towns that rank among the "worst" in the U.S.A.

But NerdWallet, a consumer analysis website, took a number of data points into account - particularly affordability and the ability to maintain that ownership.

The methodology was based on the home-ownership rate, which made up 33.3 percent of the total score, and a higher rate earned a higher score. The rate comes from the U.S. Census American Community Survey 5-year Estimates for all places in the state. Monthly owner costs as a percentage of median household income made up 16.7 percent of the total score.

Here is the list, with the median monthly homeowner costs:

1. Mountain Top $1,669
2. Franklin Park $2,311
3. Jefferson Hills $1,630
4. Weigelstown $1,412
5. Murrysville $1,722
6. Plum $1,464
7. Baldwin $1,247
8. Hershey $1,807
9. Upper St. Clair $2,010
10. Bethel Park $1,470
11. South Park Township $1,479
12. Hermitage $1,211
13. West Mifflin $1,101
14. Levittown $1,751
15. Croydon $1,564
16. Whitehall $1,356
17. Horsham $1,866
18. Monroeville $1,318
19. Lower Burrell $1,130
20. St. Marys $1,051
21. Munhall $1,011
22. Allison Park $1,737
23. Altoona $916
24. Shiloh $1,417
25. Fernway $1,580
26. Montgomeryville $2,101
27. Columbia $1,166
28. Hazleton $1,029
29. Waynesboro $1,227
30. Ephrata $1,361
31. Yeadon $1,523
32. Philadelphia $1,243
33. Fullerton $1,433
34. Oil City $833
35. Lansdowne $1,819
36. Emmaus $1,475
37. Wyomissing $1,906
38. Erie $976
39. Colonial Park $1,429
40. Nanticoke $1,108
41. Pottstown $1,456
42. Phoenixville $1,761
43. Chambersburg $1,159
44. Darby $1,114
45. Pottsville $1,043
46. Hanover $1,373
47. New Kensington $1,087
48. Scranton $1,218
49. Carlisle $1,466
50. New Castle $963
51. Lebanon $1,009
52. Allentown $1,333
53. Bloomsburg $1,119
54. Reading $978
55. Kingston $1,219
56. King of Prussia $1,933
57. Lancaster $1,110
58. Dunmore $1,370
59. Pittsburgh $1,122
60. Wilkes-Barre $1,031
61. Bethlehem $1,394
62. Ardmore $2,081
63. Berwick $1,162
64. Lansdale $1,629
65. Carnot-Moon $1,468
66. York $1,039
67. Elizabethtown $1,422
68. Greensburg $1,128
69. Harrisburg $1,079
70. Norristown $1,492
71. McKeesport $824
72. Sharon $982
73. Easton $1,416
74. Coatesville $1,415
75. Johnstown $785
76. Williamsport $1,109
77. Meadville $1,035
78. Washington $974
79. Indiana $1,071
80. Willow Grove $1,909
81. Butler $1,026
82. Chester $989
83. Park Forest Village $1,474
84. Broomall $2,050
85. Drexel Hill $1,914
86. Uniontown $1,013
87. Wilkinsburg $1,089
88. West Chester $1,739
89. State College $1,775

You can find the entire methodology here.

Patch file photo