Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Wilkes-Barre's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Wilkes-Barre?
Your $100,000 in Wilkes-Barre has the same purchasing power as $116,117 in the average US city. You'd need $16,117 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Wilkes-Barre's cost index of 86, sorted by closest match.
If you're weighing a move to Wilkes-Barre, the short answer is that the city has a few genuine arguments going for it — most obviously cheaper than the national average, with no fine print and lower-than-average crime numbers, plus 3 more things worth knowing. Here's the longer version.
Wilkes-Barre sits at 86 on the composite cost-of-living index — about 14% under the national average. Not the cheapest place in the country, but enough of a discount to notice on rent and groceries every month. Median rent in town runs about $897/mo against a typical household income of $46,597, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Wilkes-Barre reports about 2,032 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — a step below the US average of around 3,500. The citywide number averages over neighborhoods that can vary a lot, but the headline number is friendlier than most American cities of comparable size.
Wilkes-Barre's Walk Score is 83/100 — top-tier walkability by US standards. Groceries, coffee, work, social life: most of it lands within reasonable foot range of wherever you live. A lot of residents skip car ownership entirely, which is its own form of savings on top of the lifestyle change.
Wilkes-Barre's air quality index averages about 39 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
The average one-way commute in Wilkes-Barre is about 20 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
Reasons are pulled from Wilkes-Barre's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Yes, several times a winter. Wilkes-Barre's winter average of about 28°F sits right around freezing, so storms typically drop real snow that lingers a few days before slush sets in.
Cold but workable. Winter in Wilkes-Barre averages about 28°F — colder than the national norm, mild compared to the upper Midwest. A solid coat handles most days; the genuine cold snaps are short.
Hot, but not desert-hot. Summer in Wilkes-Barre runs about 86°F on average, with afternoons in the 90s and humidity that varies by region. AC is standard rather than optional.
Approximately USDA Hardiness Zone 8. That's the band gardeners use to pick plants — anything rated for Zone 8 or colder should survive a typical winter in Wilkes-Barre. (The estimate is derived from our winter-temperature data; the official USDA map uses station-level annual minimums and may differ by half a zone.)
Wilkes-Barre is at about 548 feet (167 m) above sea level. High enough to be solidly above any coastal concern, low enough that altitude isn't a factor.
Average for an American city. Wilkes-Barre's reported crime rate of about 2,032 per 100,000 residents sits roughly in line with the US baseline of ~3,500. Like anywhere else, the citywide number masks real differences between neighborhoods — worth looking at specific areas before deciding.
No — your dollar actually goes further here. Wilkes-Barre's composite cost-of-living index is 86, roughly 14% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Yes — Wilkes-Barre is one of the more walkable US cities. A Walk Score of 83/100 means most daily errands can be done on foot in most neighborhoods. Many residents go car-free comfortably.
Roughly $60,284 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Wilkes-Barre runs about $897/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.