Northeast · Updated October 2026
Pennsylvania in numbers, from the same public data Locustep uses to rank all 50 states: rent, pay, taxes, safety, disaster risk and weather, plus the cities worth a look.
Two-bedroom rent
$1,528/mo
U.S. average $1,759
HUD Fair Market Rents FY2027 (40th percentile, population-weighted across the state)
Rent vs. income
23.6%
of median household income for a year of two-bedroom rent
HUD Fair Market Rents FY2027 ÷ 2024 ACS 1-year estimates (Census B19013)
State income tax
3.07%
top marginal rate, single filer
State revenue departments, 2026 income tax rates (sources listed per state)
Property tax
1.16%
effective rate on owner-occupied homes
Everyday costs
99.6
index, housing excluded (U.S. = 100)
BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024 (released February 2026), housing and utilities removed
Natural disaster risk
23rd
percentile, FEMA expected annual loss (lower is safer)
Where Pennsylvania stands out: the 10th lowest natural-disaster risk and the 6th lowest top income-tax rate among the 50 states.
Overall, a married couple on the U.S. median household income would pay about 9.0% of it in state and local income, property and sales tax here, the 11th highest of the 50 states.
Average afternoon highs and overnight lows in Philadelphia (Philadelphia Intl Airport station), NOAA 1991–2020 normals.
| Season | High | Low |
|---|---|---|
| Winter (Dec–Feb) | 44°F | 28°F |
| Spring (Mar–May) | 64°F | 44°F |
| Summer (Jun–Aug) | 86°F | 67°F |
| Fall (Sep–Nov) | 67°F | 50°F |
$1,860/mo two-bedroom · $1,558 one-bedroom (Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD MSA)
Philadelphia is a dense, walkable, historic city with extraordinary food, real neighbourhood identity and the cheapest housing of any major East Coast metro. It also has high poverty and crime rates that vary sharply by area.
$1,389/mo two-bedroom · $1,146 one-bedroom (Pittsburgh, PA HUD Metro FMR Area)
Pittsburgh is a hilly, river-crossed former steel city now driven by universities, hospitals and robotics research. Cheap housing, striking bridges and views, grey winters, and a fiercely local culture.
$1,553/mo two-bedroom · $1,256 one-bedroom (Lancaster, PA MSA)
Lancaster is a small city in Amish country with a surprisingly good food and arts scene and a walkable centre. Affordable, agricultural at the edges, and within reach of Philadelphia and Baltimore.
$1,598/mo two-bedroom · $1,285 one-bedroom (Harrisburg-Carlisle, PA MSA)
Harrisburg is Pennsylvania's state capital on the Susquehanna, with government employment, a low cost of living and a central location on the East Coast corridor.
$1,363/mo two-bedroom · $1,106 one-bedroom (Scranton--Wilkes-Barre, PA MSA)
Scranton is a northeast Pennsylvania city with a coal and railroad past, in the Lackawanna Valley near the Poconos. Very affordable, with a busy healthcare and university sector; it charges a local earned-income tax.
$1,091/mo two-bedroom · $851 one-bedroom (Erie, PA MSA)
Erie is Pennsylvania's Lake Erie city, with the Presque Isle peninsula's beaches and a manufacturing and healthcare base. Very cheap housing, heavy lake-effect snow and a shrinking population.
$1,537/mo two-bedroom · $1,282 one-bedroom (State College, PA MSA)
State College exists for Penn State — a genuinely isolated town in the centre of the state, dominated by 45,000 students and football weekends. Cheap outside term, and quiet in summer.
$1,839/mo two-bedroom · $1,519 one-bedroom (Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA HUD Metro FMR Area)
Bethlehem is a Lehigh Valley city built on steel, now home to a university, a casino in the old works and a warehouse-logistics boom. Affordable, historic, and roughly ninety minutes from both New York and Philadelphia.
Rents: HUD Fair Market Rents FY2027 (40th percentile, population-weighted across the state) (metro areas). City notes: Locustep.
Closest on Locustep’s match factors: cost, housing, taxes, safety, jobs, schools, healthcare, outdoors, disaster risk and climate.
Ranks compare the 50 states. Locustep updates these figures when the agencies publish new data.
Yes. Pennsylvania’s top marginal income-tax rate for a single filer is 3.07% (Pennsylvania tax law, 2026). Counting property and sales tax too, a married couple on the U.S. median household income would pay about 9.0% of income in state and local taxes (Locustep estimate, 2026).
A typical two-bedroom rents for about $1,528 a month and a one-bedroom for about $1,257, using HUD’s FY2027 Fair Market Rents averaged across the state by population. That is $231 less than the U.S. average of $1,759. Rent in the bigger metros can be well above the state figure.
Leaving housing aside, everyday prices (goods and services other than housing) index at 99.6 against a U.S. average of 100 (BEA, 2024), and the median home value indexes at 77.0 against the U.S. median (Census, 2024). Two-bedroom rent takes 23.6% of the state’s median household income of $77,545.
Pennsylvania recorded 245.6 violent crimes per 100,000 residents in 2024 (FBI), the 16th lowest rate of the 50 states. Crime varies a lot between and within cities, so check the specific area you’re considering.
The main hazards are severe winter storms and flooding. On FEMA’s National Risk Index, Pennsylvania’s expected yearly loss from natural hazards sits at the 23rd percentile nationally (lower is safer). Risk differs sharply by county, so look up the county too.
Places people most often weigh include Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Lancaster, Harrisburg and Scranton. Each has a different cost, climate and character; Locustep compares their rent, disaster risk, weather and pay side by side.