$175,000 buys the median home in Scranton right now. With 20% down, that's a $35,000 down payment and a $140,000 loan, set against a $45,000 median household income.
Property taxes in Scranton run 2.05% of assessed value, above the 1.1% national average. On the median home, that's $3,587 a year, or $299 added to the monthly payment.
Unlike the nine no-income-tax states, Pennsylvania taxes wage income. Worth running your actual take-home pay against the $1,279/month payment here before locking in a target price.
Day-to-day expenses in Scranton track at 85 against the national 100 baseline, below average once you look past the mortgage payment itself.
Scranton's median home price runs 34% lower than nearby Philadelphia: $265,000 there versus $175,000 here.