Best Philadelphia suburbs for schools

Ranked almost entirely on the Schools category — within-state proficiency, student–teacher ratio, graduation rate and schools nearby — with the two poll questions about children and teenagers at 20% once a place has enough responses.

Updated Sep 2026·50 suburbs considered, 10 listed

Bala Cynwyd$640k median · 27.6 min commute

Schools A+Cost of living C−Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 75 B

Ardmore$453k median · 26.4 min commute

Schools A+Cost of living B−Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 74 B

Haddonfield$755k median · 30.0 min commute

Schools ACost of living FResidents inactive

Schools score
overall 71 B−

Source: Jim Irwin Original work by Jim Irwin, December 2005.

Moorestown-Lenola$582k median · 23.8 min commute

Schools ACost of living D+Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 66 C+

Thomas Massey House (NRHP) in Broomall, Delaware County, PA.

Broomall$483k median · 26.1 min commute

Schools ACost of living B−Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 71 B−

Town center of West Chester. View looks northeast along Market Street from Darlington Street. [Added by Nyttend: this block is included in the West Chester Down

West Chester$491k median · 20.9 min commute

Schools ACost of living B−Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 69 B−

Horsham$389k median · 25.1 min commute

Schools A−Cost of living B−Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 68 B−

King of Prussia$436k median · 24.3 min commute

Schools A−Cost of living B−Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 72 B−

Lansdale$344k median · 25.4 min commute

Schools B+Cost of living BResidents inactive

Schools score
overall 65 C+

Montgomeryville$471k median · 29.0 min commute

Schools B+Cost of living B−Residents inactive

Schools score
overall 71 B−

This list's weighting

Schools 80%Resident poll (Q5, Q6) 20%

Poll components only count for places with eight or more resident responses; for the others the remaining weights re-normalise to 100%.

Other Philadelphia lists

Best Philadelphia suburbs for families Most affordable Philadelphia suburbs Shortest commutes to Downtown Philadelphia Most walkable Philadelphia suburbs Best Philadelphia suburbs for young professionals How we score Philadelphia suburbs →

Photos from Wikimedia Commons: Bala Cynwyd (Sir Joseph · CC BY-SA 3.0); Ardmore (Ii2nmd · CC0); Haddonfield (Cashcow at en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0); Moorestown-Lenola (Wikimedia Commons · CC BY 2.5); Broomall (User:Smallbones on English Wikipedia. · Public domain); West Chester (Zoewscott · Public domain); King of Prussia (Dough4872 · CC BY-SA 4.0); Lansdale (Dough4872 · CC BY-SA 4.0); Montgomeryville (Dough4872 · CC BY-SA 4.0).