Top 10 Safe/Affordable Philadelphia Suburbs

6 min readApr 7, 2018

Safe/Affordable Suburbs In the Philly Area

Philadelphia, aka Philly, is known as the city of brotherly love and is a pretty great city to try out for it’s own unique and intense, passionate culture. The natives and the residents take pride in the fact that their city is like no other. It also has cheaper rents and housing prices compared to it’s other east coast neighbors (DC, NYC, Boston). One can enjoy the excitement Philly has to offer. From the Liberty Bell, the Eagles, the museums and other cultural landmarks which shape the city, Philly leaves a lot to be desired. But you might be concerned with noise/safety or wanting to move out to the suburbs for more space.

Fear not, ere are our 10 safe/affordable suburbs of Philadelphia.

1. Jenkintown, PA

Population: 4,422 (2016)

Average Home Price: $237,000

Safety index: 47 (100 is the safest)

Proximity to Philly: Jenkintown is serviced by Old York which leads you into Philadelphia within 30 minutes via the I-76 highway. However during rush hour,be expected to add at least 20–30 minutes to your commute. Luckily, there is the SEPTA commuter train (Warminster line) which gets you straight into Center City in only 35 minutes.

2. Abington Township, PA

Population: 55,557 (2016 estimate)

Average Home Price: $268,900

Safety index: 34 (100 is the safest)

Proximity to Philly: Abington, like Jenkintown, is served by Old York Rd40 US state highway which leads you into Philadelphia within 35 minutes via the I-76 highway as it borders North Philadelphia to it’s North. However during rush hour, be expected to add at least 20–30 minutes to your commute. Luckily, just like Jenkintown, there is the SEPTA commuter train (Warminster line) which gets you straight into Center City in only 45 minutes.

3. Cheltenham Township, PA

*Image Source: Cheltenham Township Website*

Population: 37,103 (2016 estimate)

Average Home Price: $261,000

Safety index: 26 (100 is the safest)

Proximity to Philly: Cheltenham Township, just like the other 2 towns we spoke about before, is served by Old York Rd which leads you into Philadelphia within 28 minutes via the I-76 highway. However during rush hour, be expected to add at least 20–30 minutes to your commute. Luckily, just like almost every other town in it’s vicinity, there is the SEPTA commuter train (West Tenton line) which gets you straight into Center City in 53 minutes.

4. Haddon Heights, NJ

Population: 7,544 (2016)

Average Home Price: $245,000

Safety index: 65 (100 is the safest)

Proximity to Philly: Abington is served by I-295 which leads you into Philadelphia within 18 minutes via the I-676 highway. However during rush hour, be expected to add at least 8–10 minutes to your commute. Luckily, there is the NJ Transit Bus (Route 400) which gets you straight into Center City in 39 minutes but could slightly be longer than driving.

5. Sellersville, PA

Population: 4,261 (2016)

Average Home Price: $210,000

Safety index: 61 (100 is the safest)

Proximity to Philly: Sellersville is not directly served by an interstate roads but it does have the Sellersville bypasss road which leads you into Philadelphia within 53 minutes along with taking the I-676 highway. However during rush hour, be expected to add at least 30 minutes to an hour on your commute. Unfortunately, there is no train station servicing the area. But you do have 9th street station in nearby Landsdale which is served by Septa’s Landsdale/Doylestown commuter line that takes you straight into Center City which is an hour long.

6. King of Prussia, PA

Population: 7,544 (2016)

Average Home Price: $313,600

Safety index: 8 (100 is the safest)

Proximity to Philly: King of Prussia is served by I-295 and I-76 due to it’s location of it’s landmark mall. Commuting via car will take about 30 minutes (on a good day). However during rush hour, be expected to add at least 20–30 minutes to your commute. Luckily, there is the SEPTA Bus (Route 125) but that takes about an hour and 15 minutes when commuting to Center City. This could slightly be longer than driving.

7. Bally, PA

Population: 1,101 (2016)

Average Home Price: $175,000

Safety index: 95 (100 is the safest)

Proximity to Philly: Bally is only serviced from Route 101 (Main St). Commuting via Car into Center City will not be the best. Travelling via car will take an hour and 5 minutes. However during rush hour, be expected to add at least 30–40 minutes to your commute. Unfortunately, there are no public transit options outside of carpooling to get you into the city.

8. Chalfont, PA

Population: 4,047 (2016)

Average Home Price: $339,000

Safety index: 75 (100 is the safest)

Proximity to Philly: Chalfont is served by Route 202 which leads you into Philadelphia within 50 minutes via the I-76 highway. However during rush hour, be expected to add at least 20–40 minutes to your commute. Luckily, there is the Landsdale/Doylestown commuter train line which gets you straight into Center City in an hour and 15 minutes.

9. Upper Providence Township, PA

Population: 10,142 (2010)

Average Home Price: $332,200

Safety index: 85 (100 is the safest)

Proximity to Philly: Upper Providence Township is served by the media bypass road and by I-476 which leads you into Philadelphia within 30 minutes via the I-95 highway. However during rush hour, be expected to add at least 20–30 minutes to your commute. Luckily, there is the SEPTA commuter train line (Media/Elwin Line) which gets you straight into Center City in only 40 minutes.

10. East Fallowfield, PA

Population: 7,449 (2010)

Average Home Price: $300,000

Safety index: 90 (100 is the safest)

Proximity to Philly: East Fallowfield is served by the Lincoln Highway which leads you into Philadelphia within 50 minutes via the I-76 highway. However during rush hour, be expected to add at least 30 minutes to an hour on your commute. Luckily, there is the Amtrak train line (Keystone Service) in nearby Coatesville which gets you straight into Center City in only 55 minutes.

So there you have it in part 3 in our series of the safe/affordable suburbs edition.

Next week, we head up the NJ Turnpike to North Jersey in Part 4 of our series.

Below are some local government and transit resources to help you get yourself familiar with the Philadelphia area towns we’ve highlighted on this blog:

Local/City Resources: