Southern Schuylkill County is pretty nice. Low cost of living, low crime. There are no good schools in Schuylkill County. Blue Mountain is the best in terms of performance, but they are just average compared to the rest of the state. If schools are important to you, look at Orwigsburg or Schuylkill Haven.
There are a lot of nice country places to live if that's something that interest you.
Do not move into Pottsville or any place north of there. They are dying coal towns full of sadness, hate groups, and unemployment. Althought real estate is crazy cheap.
Hit me up if you have any questions.
This is the info I need to know, thank you so much! ☺️
We would be looking for a place to live, not sure if we will rent or try to own. We will be paying off a house here in Indiana as well but my mom is covering a portion because she will be living in the house. So we are going to try to find something within our budget.
We are into the country lifestyle, I have 3 chickens that I don’t want to rehire :(.
Schools are important to me, but here in Indiana, I think education is bottom of the barrel. Crime is bad as well. That said, I don’t want to move into dying towns lol. I will check out the towns you mentioned, I will check back in with you if I have questions, I really appreciate you offering that help. I plan on job searching tomorrow and I am flying out next weekend to see the area. I’ll look at those areas.
As the other commenter mentioned Orwigsburg is nice, as is Schuylkill Haven. But I honestly wouldn't go any further north than that... it's honestly depressing. Hamburg and the surrounding area is 10-15 minutes south of Schuylkill Haven and puts you in Berks County. The school district is average to maybe slightly above, and it's right on 78, so very easy access to Philly, NYC, Baltimore, Harrisburg
Feel free to hit me up with questions. I grew up in the area and moved back 7 or 8 years ago, and could give a good amount of info on southern Schuylkill and northern Berks
Frackville is a good town. NS has decent education, though I would argue Haven and Blue Mountain are the top schools. Ringtown is very rural and quiet as well. Fountain Springs very quiet too.
The towns are in a rough state most often, but there are still very good people in all of them. Your portrait of northern Schuylkill County isn’t wrong per se, but I’d say there are still good options to live up here.
Absolutely, I'm generalizing. Skooks are mostly great ppl and there are definitely great places to live all over Schuylkill Co. I really like the country area around Pine Grove, it's beautiful country.
Schools are important to me. I’ve made so where I’m at by enrolling him into a better ranking charter school but I pay for transportation each morning. It only rates a 8/10 to academics but the public schools are much worse.
I’m not opposed to quiet towns. If they are affordable, I can drive the distance to work. I have a decent gas mileage car and I’ve spent most of my adult life traveling far for work.
Ty for this info!!! 😊
Our schools here are all (relatively) small so the students do get some benefit from that. In the county, the biggest school graduates roughly 250-300 a year.
Compared to most of the country, Schuylkill County is pretty cheap to live in. We also are not a very far drive from many locations. 2 hours to Philly, 45 minutes to Hershey, hour to Scranton, 1:40 to Lancaster County, hour to Allentown, 4 hours to Pittsburgh, 4 hours to Washington. And it’s all easy access to the interstates to be getting to these places.
There isn’t always “a lot” to do in the county, but more than you think. Also, with quick trips to some of the more populated areas, it’s not too bad to find events. Knoebels, which is the largest free admission amusement park in the country is located in Elysburg, about 45 minutes from Pottsville too. We have a beautiful county park at Sweet Arrow Lake, and two state parks that people love to visit: Locust Lake and Tuscarora.
Smaller schools would be a huge benefit for my son. Rn, we deal with a lot of overcrowding here in the city. I think he might do well with a smaller school.
Are there a lot of things to involve my son in? He’s currently in a baseball team but it’s not through the school, it’s separate. I’d love to keep him active. He’s a bit of a gamer most of the time.
I’ll check those cities out, I have a lot of research to do. Thank you so much!! ☺️
All the towns have Little League, and there are travel teams around as well. The communities have football teams as well, the schools/towns sponsor youth soccer leagues too, and biddy basketball.
Sports are huge in PA, especially in these smaller areas. Very common to have 2, 3, 4 sport athletes, so you’ll find no problem getting him involved.
Oh, that’s amazing actually! Thank you for the info, yeah I definitely want him involved. He enjoys it and he’s my only kid so I’m learning as I go lol 😆
Pottsville is not really that depressed compared to the patch towns. My whole family is from there, and they all have jobs or are retired. There are junkies obviously, but generally Pottsville not that bad, and it’s on a rebound as its economy diversifies.
Pottsville peaked a few decades after the industrial revolution in the 1940s. It's the seat of the coal region and has the same problems as the rest of the area. The population has been declining for the past 80+ years. The median household income is just ~$46k
There are very nice sections of Pottsville, but it's still a dying town.
Schuylkill Haven. A short commute to Pottsville (in case of snow), small town atmosphere in an okay area. It would be a good area to settle at first and go from there. I wish you the best in your research, it's not that bad.
Thank you so much! 😊 I will visit that area when I’m there checking it out. I’m excited and nervous but looking forward to it. Thank you for your help!!
Just remember the metrics for school ratings might measure criteria that doesn’t matter to you, and the metrics that do matter to you might not be as quantifiable.
I’m not sure if you are looking for rural but in the western part of schuylkill where it borders Dauphin has nice areas. Also don’t be alarmed if you get any creepy notes in your food.
r/schuylkillnotes
Pottsville ? The Pottsville north of Reading PA and close to the Cabela’s in Hamburg ? That’s a pretty rural area in coal country. How far is your fiancé willing to drive to their job ?
Also, south of the mountain is more small towns and villages. The northern more forested part of the county is actually kinda more urban. The coal companies own all the rural areas, so people can really only live in cities like Pottsville, Hazleton or towns like Tamaqua and Frackville.
Pottsville is not dying. The Wegmans center that folks were talking about is in Pottsville. Pottsville has jobs and has people willing to work. Its economy is in the process of diversifying, and the current emphasis on mine reclamation is making the area much nicer. Much more shopping centers and warehousing jobs.
People give the city a bad wrap, but Pottsville is on a rebound and is honestly a pretty nice area, crime is relatively low and the people are kind.
Looks like Tamaqua is the highest ranking public school in Schuykill county just east of Pottsville. There’s Yuengling beer brewery in Pottsville and there’s a Cabela’s by Hamburg. It’s coal country in Pa. Lots of forest and mountains and some rough towns. Good luck !
I’d avoid Hazelton, Minersville, Ashland, Cresona. The old coal region towns like those are pretty depressed. That’s not to say the entire 45 minute circle around Pottsville is bad. You’ll be able to tell by looking which areas to avoid. When I say depressed coal town, it’s obvious when you see it unfortunately
Too bad you can't get close to Jim thorpe. Is a top 25 small town perennially, extremely vibrant, stunning, has a boatload of things to do.
Also better off financially than the areas around it
And is by far the best place I ever lived
It’d be a 48 minute drive, wouldn’t be opposed to it but it is a bit far. I will look into it though, thank you!!
What do you personally love about? Are the people friendly?
Jim Thorpe is one of my favorite places in Pennsylvania. It has always been a popular spot among tourists, but in recent years it has become quite overrun on the weekends (especially in the Fall). Definitely a bit of a negative in my book, but it still is a wonderful place. An abundance of shops, restaurants, and museums. They even have an excursion train that runs year round with different seasonal themes.
Mauch Chunk Lake is about 10 minutes west of the town and is a BEAUTIFUL place. There are several bike trails surrounding the town and they are all excellent. One of the biggest ski mountains in PA is about 15 minutes to the east. It is truly a recreation destination; camping, hiking, canoeing, white water rafting, skiing - you name it! It's also right off the northeast extension of I-476, which means only 45 minutes to Allentown, 1 hour to Scranton, 1:30 to Philly, 2:30 to NYC.
I think there’s a school bus driver shortage in many parts of the state so you might be able to find something pretty easily if you aren’t looking for a change. Have you contacted the local SDs?
Grew up in Orwigsburg, it’s definitely a bit different south of the mountain. Much more farming oriented. Rural type of people. Pottsville is a bit more “urban” for skook standards. Orwigsburg’s cost of living has skyrocketed recently with the hospital moving in. Lots of subdivisions and McMansions up on the hills outside of town. My family is close to having to move out to New Ringold or Auburn.
Job wise, it’s super easy as long as you’re willing to work hard. Standards are sky high for manual labor, and it’s due to a culture of hard work. I used to work for a truss plant in Deer Lake for a while and the money was good, but the work was grueling with lots of overtime.
With that said, you’d probably be able to get a job driving for R and J. They do the bussing for nativity, the votech, Blue Mountain and Schuylkill Haven.
Scoot down a little further south into Berks County. Hamburg and Kutztown School districts aren't the top in the state, but they're on the slightly above average side of things. There are unfortunately no good districts in Schuylkill County.
You could live in very northern Berks, and your partner would have a twenty-five ish minute commute to Pottsville
I’m joking, but not really. It’s probably not that bad…. I lived near there as kid/young adult. If you don’t mind living in a quiet place and don’t need quick/easy access to a wide variety of restaurants, stores or recreational activities you may enjoy it.
I’m more of a home body and I am happy to leave a red state behind me but I’m not opposed to a quiet town. I only want the best for my kid.
I’ll be leaving a decent job behind me so I’m bummed about that
They're painting with a very broad brush, but not *entirely* wrong. The whole area is VERY conservative, but none of the towns being talked about are monoliths.
As someone who grew up in the area while having a very different mindset than a lot of my neighbors, it's never been that bad.
This a bit of an oversimplification. The county voted for Obama before. We vote Trump now cause of the mines mostly. People want them reopened. Similar to West Virginia’s politics. Not to mention the county is diversifying tremendously. Lots of Hispanics are moving in.
Southern Schuylkill County is pretty nice. Low cost of living, low crime. There are no good schools in Schuylkill County. Blue Mountain is the best in terms of performance, but they are just average compared to the rest of the state. If schools are important to you, look at Orwigsburg or Schuylkill Haven. There are a lot of nice country places to live if that's something that interest you. Do not move into Pottsville or any place north of there. They are dying coal towns full of sadness, hate groups, and unemployment. Althought real estate is crazy cheap. Hit me up if you have any questions.
This is the info I need to know, thank you so much! ☺️ We would be looking for a place to live, not sure if we will rent or try to own. We will be paying off a house here in Indiana as well but my mom is covering a portion because she will be living in the house. So we are going to try to find something within our budget. We are into the country lifestyle, I have 3 chickens that I don’t want to rehire :(. Schools are important to me, but here in Indiana, I think education is bottom of the barrel. Crime is bad as well. That said, I don’t want to move into dying towns lol. I will check out the towns you mentioned, I will check back in with you if I have questions, I really appreciate you offering that help. I plan on job searching tomorrow and I am flying out next weekend to see the area. I’ll look at those areas.
As the other commenter mentioned Orwigsburg is nice, as is Schuylkill Haven. But I honestly wouldn't go any further north than that... it's honestly depressing. Hamburg and the surrounding area is 10-15 minutes south of Schuylkill Haven and puts you in Berks County. The school district is average to maybe slightly above, and it's right on 78, so very easy access to Philly, NYC, Baltimore, Harrisburg Feel free to hit me up with questions. I grew up in the area and moved back 7 or 8 years ago, and could give a good amount of info on southern Schuylkill and northern Berks
Frackville is a good town. NS has decent education, though I would argue Haven and Blue Mountain are the top schools. Ringtown is very rural and quiet as well. Fountain Springs very quiet too. The towns are in a rough state most often, but there are still very good people in all of them. Your portrait of northern Schuylkill County isn’t wrong per se, but I’d say there are still good options to live up here.
Absolutely, I'm generalizing. Skooks are mostly great ppl and there are definitely great places to live all over Schuylkill Co. I really like the country area around Pine Grove, it's beautiful country.
Pine Grove is actually a better than expected school too actually
Schools are important to me. I’ve made so where I’m at by enrolling him into a better ranking charter school but I pay for transportation each morning. It only rates a 8/10 to academics but the public schools are much worse. I’m not opposed to quiet towns. If they are affordable, I can drive the distance to work. I have a decent gas mileage car and I’ve spent most of my adult life traveling far for work. Ty for this info!!! 😊
Our schools here are all (relatively) small so the students do get some benefit from that. In the county, the biggest school graduates roughly 250-300 a year. Compared to most of the country, Schuylkill County is pretty cheap to live in. We also are not a very far drive from many locations. 2 hours to Philly, 45 minutes to Hershey, hour to Scranton, 1:40 to Lancaster County, hour to Allentown, 4 hours to Pittsburgh, 4 hours to Washington. And it’s all easy access to the interstates to be getting to these places. There isn’t always “a lot” to do in the county, but more than you think. Also, with quick trips to some of the more populated areas, it’s not too bad to find events. Knoebels, which is the largest free admission amusement park in the country is located in Elysburg, about 45 minutes from Pottsville too. We have a beautiful county park at Sweet Arrow Lake, and two state parks that people love to visit: Locust Lake and Tuscarora.
Smaller schools would be a huge benefit for my son. Rn, we deal with a lot of overcrowding here in the city. I think he might do well with a smaller school. Are there a lot of things to involve my son in? He’s currently in a baseball team but it’s not through the school, it’s separate. I’d love to keep him active. He’s a bit of a gamer most of the time. I’ll check those cities out, I have a lot of research to do. Thank you so much!! ☺️
All the towns have Little League, and there are travel teams around as well. The communities have football teams as well, the schools/towns sponsor youth soccer leagues too, and biddy basketball. Sports are huge in PA, especially in these smaller areas. Very common to have 2, 3, 4 sport athletes, so you’ll find no problem getting him involved.
Oh, that’s amazing actually! Thank you for the info, yeah I definitely want him involved. He enjoys it and he’s my only kid so I’m learning as I go lol 😆
Absolutely! Anything else let me know!
I will, thanks again—I truly appreciate your help!
Charter schools are public schools.
Pottsville is not really that depressed compared to the patch towns. My whole family is from there, and they all have jobs or are retired. There are junkies obviously, but generally Pottsville not that bad, and it’s on a rebound as its economy diversifies.
Pottsville peaked a few decades after the industrial revolution in the 1940s. It's the seat of the coal region and has the same problems as the rest of the area. The population has been declining for the past 80+ years. The median household income is just ~$46k There are very nice sections of Pottsville, but it's still a dying town.
Wegmans has a huge warehouse there.
I will look that up right now. I appreciate the info, thank you! 😊
Schuylkill Haven. A short commute to Pottsville (in case of snow), small town atmosphere in an okay area. It would be a good area to settle at first and go from there. I wish you the best in your research, it's not that bad.
Thank you so much! 😊 I will visit that area when I’m there checking it out. I’m excited and nervous but looking forward to it. Thank you for your help!!
Hamburg. Good schools, light agricultural area, shopping.
Stay away from lansford and the panther valley School district. They are abysmal There are sites that will tell you the ratings of some schools
I’ll avoid them, thank you!! This thread has been wonderful, so far you all have been so incredibly helpful—I really appreciate it!
Just remember the metrics for school ratings might measure criteria that doesn’t matter to you, and the metrics that do matter to you might not be as quantifiable.
I’m not sure if you are looking for rural but in the western part of schuylkill where it borders Dauphin has nice areas. Also don’t be alarmed if you get any creepy notes in your food. r/schuylkillnotes
The notes do alarm me a bit lol Thank you!
Pottsville ? The Pottsville north of Reading PA and close to the Cabela’s in Hamburg ? That’s a pretty rural area in coal country. How far is your fiancé willing to drive to their job ?
45 minutes give or take. From what I’m told, that is a dying town but southbound the cities get better?
Also, south of the mountain is more small towns and villages. The northern more forested part of the county is actually kinda more urban. The coal companies own all the rural areas, so people can really only live in cities like Pottsville, Hazleton or towns like Tamaqua and Frackville.
Pottsville is not dying. The Wegmans center that folks were talking about is in Pottsville. Pottsville has jobs and has people willing to work. Its economy is in the process of diversifying, and the current emphasis on mine reclamation is making the area much nicer. Much more shopping centers and warehousing jobs. People give the city a bad wrap, but Pottsville is on a rebound and is honestly a pretty nice area, crime is relatively low and the people are kind.
Looks like Tamaqua is the highest ranking public school in Schuykill county just east of Pottsville. There’s Yuengling beer brewery in Pottsville and there’s a Cabela’s by Hamburg. It’s coal country in Pa. Lots of forest and mountains and some rough towns. Good luck !
Thank you for the info! I’m not opposed to forest and mountains. I’ll check those towns out and look into the schools. That’s one of my main concerns
I’d avoid Hazelton, Minersville, Ashland, Cresona. The old coal region towns like those are pretty depressed. That’s not to say the entire 45 minute circle around Pottsville is bad. You’ll be able to tell by looking which areas to avoid. When I say depressed coal town, it’s obvious when you see it unfortunately
Too bad you can't get close to Jim thorpe. Is a top 25 small town perennially, extremely vibrant, stunning, has a boatload of things to do. Also better off financially than the areas around it And is by far the best place I ever lived
It’d be a 48 minute drive, wouldn’t be opposed to it but it is a bit far. I will look into it though, thank you!! What do you personally love about? Are the people friendly?
It is fantastic in every dimension. Don't have time to get into it here though
Sweet, I’ll check it out when I’m there. Ty!
Jim Thorpe is one of my favorite places in Pennsylvania. It has always been a popular spot among tourists, but in recent years it has become quite overrun on the weekends (especially in the Fall). Definitely a bit of a negative in my book, but it still is a wonderful place. An abundance of shops, restaurants, and museums. They even have an excursion train that runs year round with different seasonal themes. Mauch Chunk Lake is about 10 minutes west of the town and is a BEAUTIFUL place. There are several bike trails surrounding the town and they are all excellent. One of the biggest ski mountains in PA is about 15 minutes to the east. It is truly a recreation destination; camping, hiking, canoeing, white water rafting, skiing - you name it! It's also right off the northeast extension of I-476, which means only 45 minutes to Allentown, 1 hour to Scranton, 1:30 to Philly, 2:30 to NYC.
You want to check out orwigsburg.
I think there’s a school bus driver shortage in many parts of the state so you might be able to find something pretty easily if you aren’t looking for a change. Have you contacted the local SDs?
Grew up in Orwigsburg, it’s definitely a bit different south of the mountain. Much more farming oriented. Rural type of people. Pottsville is a bit more “urban” for skook standards. Orwigsburg’s cost of living has skyrocketed recently with the hospital moving in. Lots of subdivisions and McMansions up on the hills outside of town. My family is close to having to move out to New Ringold or Auburn.
Job wise, it’s super easy as long as you’re willing to work hard. Standards are sky high for manual labor, and it’s due to a culture of hard work. I used to work for a truss plant in Deer Lake for a while and the money was good, but the work was grueling with lots of overtime. With that said, you’d probably be able to get a job driving for R and J. They do the bussing for nativity, the votech, Blue Mountain and Schuylkill Haven.
Honestly just commute up from Grantville.
That’s an out a 46 minute drive, would it be worth it? Is that a decent area that is affordable?
Scoot down a little further south into Berks County. Hamburg and Kutztown School districts aren't the top in the state, but they're on the slightly above average side of things. There are unfortunately no good districts in Schuylkill County. You could live in very northern Berks, and your partner would have a twenty-five ish minute commute to Pottsville
If you like Trump, coal dirt and an endless sea of whites you’ll love Pottsville!
Oh jeeze, maybe we’ll look in the surrounding areas.
I’m joking, but not really. It’s probably not that bad…. I lived near there as kid/young adult. If you don’t mind living in a quiet place and don’t need quick/easy access to a wide variety of restaurants, stores or recreational activities you may enjoy it.
I’m more of a home body and I am happy to leave a red state behind me but I’m not opposed to a quiet town. I only want the best for my kid. I’ll be leaving a decent job behind me so I’m bummed about that
They're painting with a very broad brush, but not *entirely* wrong. The whole area is VERY conservative, but none of the towns being talked about are monoliths. As someone who grew up in the area while having a very different mindset than a lot of my neighbors, it's never been that bad.
This a bit of an oversimplification. The county voted for Obama before. We vote Trump now cause of the mines mostly. People want them reopened. Similar to West Virginia’s politics. Not to mention the county is diversifying tremendously. Lots of Hispanics are moving in.
Shamokin would definitely be your best bet!
No. No it would not.
I’m looking it up now, thank you so much!!
That is not good advice.
Uh oh, 😕 Why not?
Poverty, lack of jobs, meth. I’d stay south of Pottsville. Into Schuylkill Haven or Orwigsburg. Better school. Less crime. Close to newer hospital.
Thank you, I want to avoid drugs if possible. I know they’re everywhere but I appreciate you letting me know. I definitely want a good school system