2 Centre County communities named among nicest places to live in PA this year
Two unincorporated Centre County communities just north of State College are among the best places in Pennsylvania to live, according to rankings released last month by review site Niche.
Park Forest Village placed No. 13 and Houserville at No. 15, with the rest of the top 25 taken up almost exclusively by Philadelphia and Pittsburgh suburbs.
Niche creates an overall grade for each area based on things like cost of living, proportion of college graduates and assessments of housing and public schools are the greatest contributors to the grade. The underlying grades are built on everything from U.S. Census Bureau data to reviews from Niche users.
Park Forest Village, population 8,600, scored between A-minus and A-plus in most of the categories weighed by Niche, but was dented by cost of living (C-plus) and housing (B). Houserville, population 2,000, was weighed down by cost of living (B-minus), with most everything else being an A.
Cost of living challenges may come as no surprise, since the Centre Region, where both are located, is by some measures the most expensive region in the county. Centre County itself is the most expensive for homebuyers in the state.
But in both cases, the perks of highly-rated public schools, bountiful nearby amenities and easy commutes outweighed the cons.
Where are Niche’s best places to live in Pennsylvania in 2026?
According to Niche, these are the top 20 places to live in Pennsylvania:
- Ardmore, a Philadelphia suburb (also top-10 in the U.S.)
- Devon, a Philadelphia suburb (also top-10 in the U.S.)
- Penn Wynne, a Philadelphia suburb (also top-10 in the U.S.)
- Chesterbrook, a Philadelphia suburb (also top-10 in the U.S.)
- Swarthmore, a Philadelphia suburb
- Aspinwall, a Pittsburgh suburb
- Paoli, a Philadelphia suburb
- Bradford Woods, a Pittsburgh suburb
- Conshohocken, a Philadelphia suburb
- Point Breeze, a Pittsburgh suburb
- Rose Valley, a Pittsburgh suburb
- Mount Lebanon Township, a Pittsburgh suburb
- Park Forest Village, a State College suburb
- Berwyn, a Philadelphia suburb
- Houserville, a State College suburb
- Narberth, a Philadelphia suburb
- Camp Hill, a Harrisburg suburb
- Squirrel Hill North, a Pittsburgh neighborhood
- King of Prussia, a Philadelphia suburb
- Regent Square, a Pittsburgh neighborhood
