These Are The 10 Best Scranton Suburbs


We analyzed over 35 places around Scranton to identify the most kickass place to live.

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Big city living isn’t for everyone–but at the same time, urban areas certainly have their perks.

There’s the culture, the food, the arts, the food, the energy, and you know, the food. But there are drawbacks. There’s traffic, expensive parking, expensive housing–pretty much, expensive everything, depending on which big city you’re looking at.

But that’s where the suburbs come in–they have all of the benefits of being near big cities, without actually having to be big cities.

Of course, not all suburbs of Scranton are created equally, which is precisely why we set out to find the best ones. So without further ado, here are the 10 best suburbs around Scranton:

  1. Clarks Summit (Photos)
  2. Dallas
  3. Forty Fort
  4. Swoyersville
  5. Moosic (Photos)
  6. Dunmore (Photos)
  7. Kingston (Photos)
  8. Avoca
  9. West Pittston
  10. Jermyn

If you happen to be a resident of Clarks Summit, you’re probably not too surprised to find it on the top our list.

We’ll tell you what makes each of these 10 Scranton ‘burbs better than the rest–but first, a bit about our methodology.

How We Determined The Best Suburbs Around Scranton

Figuring out the best ‘burbs around Scranton was pretty simple; we just needed to list several things that people like, and then find out which cities have the most of those things.

We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible:

  • Low unemployment rate
  • High Median household incomes
  • Population density (lots of things to do)
  • High home values
  • A lot of college educated people

Then we used the 2010-2014 American Community Survey to research each suburb. FYI: We defined a suburb based on the Census’s designation of being part of an “Urban Cluster,” but not the main city of said urbanized area. For example, the Census considers all of these places to be part of the Scranton, Pa Urbanized Area.

Additionally, we limited the analysis to non-CDPs that have over 2,000 people. This left us with a grand total of 35 suburbs to evaluate around Scranton.

We ranked each place with scores from 1 to 35 in each category, where 1 was the “best.

Next, we averaged the rankings for each place to create a quality of life index.

And finally, we crowned the city with the best quality of life index the “Best Suburb near Scranton.” We’re lookin’ at you, Clarks Summit.

Read on below to learn more about what it’s like to live in the best of the best. Or skip to the end to see the list of all the suburbs ranked from best to worst.

1. Clarks Summit

Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 5,101
Unemployment Rate: 3.6%
Median Home Price: $174,900
Median Income: $64,297

2. Dallas

Dallas, Pennsylvania

Source: Flickr

Population: 2,806
Unemployment Rate: 4.7%
Median Home Price: $164,400
Median Income: $67,128

3. Forty Fort

Forty Fort, Pennsylvania

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 4,184
Unemployment Rate: 5.8%
Median Home Price: $137,900
Median Income: $63,112

4. Swoyersville


Population 2014: 5,038
Unemployment Rate: 2.8%
Median Home Price: $125,100
Median Income: $52,837

5. Moosic

Moosic, Pennsylvania

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 5,712
Unemployment Rate: 4.9%
Median Home Price: $143,500
Median Income: $51,802

6. Dunmore

Dunmore, Pennsylvania

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 13,974
Unemployment Rate: 7.1%
Median Home Price: $158,500
Median Income: $48,422

7. Kingston

Kingston, Pennsylvania

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 13,105
Unemployment Rate: 7.2%
Median Home Price: $128,200
Median Income: $48,248

8. Avoca


Population 2014: 2,663
Unemployment Rate: 4.9%
Median Home Price: $102,300
Median Income: $48,864

9. West Pittston

West Pittston, Pennsylvania

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 4,834
Unemployment Rate: 5.2%
Median Home Price: $140,300
Median Income: $46,587

10. Jermyn

Jermyn, Pennsylvania

Source: Wikipedia

Population: 2,236
Unemployment Rate: 5.9%
Median Home Price: $126,700
Median Income: $42,188

Welcome to the ‘Burbs

We said it once and we’ll say it again–life in the big city isn’t for everyone. At least not all the time.

So if you’re hankering for some of the amenities of a larger city like Scranton, but don’t want to deal with the drawbacks, one of these suburbs might just be for you.
For more Pennsylvania reading , check out:

Detailed List Of The Best Burbs To Live Around Scranton

City Rank Population Unemployment Rate Median Home Price Median Income
Clarks Summit 1 5,101 3.6% $174,900 $64,297
Dallas 2 2,806 4.7% $164,400 $67,128
Forty Fort 3 4,184 5.8% $137,900 $63,112
Swoyersville 4 5,038 2.8% $125,100 $52,837
Moosic 5 5,712 4.9% $143,500 $51,802
Dunmore 6 13,974 7.1% $158,500 $48,422
Kingston 7 13,105 7.2% $128,200 $48,248
Avoca 8 2,663 4.9% $102,300 $48,864
West Pittston 9 4,834 5.2% $140,300 $46,587
Jermyn 10 2,236 5.9% $126,700 $42,188
Wyoming 11 3,057 4.3% $118,300 $43,426
Olyphant 12 5,178 5.1% $138,000 $46,497
Harveys Lake 13 2,795 9.5% $174,200 $61,131
Jessup 14 4,650 4.0% $144,700 $50,163
Archbald 15 7,053 8.1% $154,900 $50,447
Dickson City 16 6,049 5.9% $150,100 $42,569
Dupont 17 2,708 7.7% $106,500 $47,849
Throop 18 4,077 8.2% $124,500 $49,906
Ashley 19 2,765 6.9% $74,900 $40,875
Old Forge 20 8,265 10.2% $133,400 $51,135
Blakely 21 6,534 6.8% $140,900 $38,698
Luzerne 22 2,843 8.3% $90,000 $33,491
Larksville 23 4,462 9.0% $102,100 $44,333
Plymouth 24 5,905 9.8% $77,600 $33,354
West Wyoming 25 2,702 10.2% $127,500 $52,978
Edwardsville 26 4,792 11.5% $83,500 $35,581
Scranton 27 75,842 9.1% $107,400 $37,551
Duryea 28 4,918 11.1% $121,800 $41,756
Forest City 29 2,068 14.4% $90,400 $39,632
Wilkes-Barre 30 41,202 9.9% $79,500 $31,361
Taylor 31 6,230 8.3% $107,900 $41,927
Pittston 32 7,702 12.3% $91,200 $34,500
Exeter 33 5,633 8.4% $118,500 $40,529
Nanticoke 34 10,395 10.6% $84,800 $35,723
Carbondale 35 8,843 14.7% $89,800 $32,223

About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.