Mountain Top sits on a drainage divide near the summit of Nescopeck Mountain, with elevation running from 1,070 feet down along Big Wapwallopen Creek up to 1,860 feet at the ridge — roughly eight miles south of Wilkes-Barre. A lot of the borough's 4,632 housing units were built to work with that grade, not around a flat suburban lot, which means split entries, walk-out basements, and staircases that turn partway up are common. With a median age of 45.5 and 21.7% of households here being a single person living alone, the stairlift conversation in Mountain Top is usually less about one bad step and more about staying independent in a house that was never laid out for one level of living.
Why a stairlift installed in Mountain Top, PA is planned around the way this specific community lives, not stamped out from a one-size-fits-all template.
The community sits on a drainage divide atop Nescopeck Mountain, with elevation ranging from 1,070 feet along Big Wapwallopen Creek to 1,860 feet at the mountain's summit, about 8 miles south of Wilkes-Barre in Luzerne County.
Source ↗Mountain Top's 4,632 housing units (2020, 5.1% vacancy) serve a notably older population, with a median age of 45.5 and 21.7% of households consisting of a person living alone.
Source ↗20.0% of Mountain Top residents were 65 or older as of 2020, with median household income of $51,655 and a low 3.4% poverty rate.
Source ↗Every home is different. Here are six recent installs from Luzerne County. Tap any project to see the full gallery, tech specs, and the story behind it.
We install stairlifts across the full Crestwood School District footprint — Nuangola (older lake-adjacent homes with narrow staircases), Fairview Heights (mid-century split-levels where the half-flight to the bedrooms gets tough), Glen Summit (larger properties with curved staircases near Penobscot Mountain), Blytheburn (1960s-era homes near the lake, often with carpeted treads), Capital Hill Village (well-kept ranch homes where a straight rail handles the basement stairs), and Hillcrest Estates (new construction where homeowners plan ahead for aging in place). We also cover Albert's Corners, Penobscot, and the surrounding townships — Dorrance, Rice, Slocum, and Wright.
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(800) 965-0350 Call Now. It's FreeThese are the three guides our Mountain Top customers read most often before booking. Written by our installers, not marketers.
Straight vs curved, standard vs heavy-duty, indoor vs outdoor. A read that saves you from buying the wrong model.
What a stairlift really costs, line by line: installation, rail, seat, add-ons, and the price hacks installers won't tell you.
Parts vs labor, how long coverage really lasts, and the exclusions that catch buyers out; questions to ask before you sign.
Compare Our Mountain Top Stairlifts
Select a stairlift on the leftabove to see full specs, pricing, and how it compares to the alternatives.
Stairlift Types
Most common · From $2,800
Fits the standard straight staircases in Mountain Top's ranch homes, Cape Cods, and split-levels. Rail bolts to the treads — no wall drilling. Installed in about 3 hours.
vs Curved: 3x less expensive and installed in one visit. vs Home elevator: 10-15x less cost and no construction. vs Moving bedroom downstairs: Keeps your home exactly as it is.
Custom-built · From $9,000
Built for Mountain Top homes with landings, turns, or mid-flight direction changes. Common in two-story Colonials off South Mountain Boulevard. Laser-measured on site, rail bent to your exact stair geometry.
vs Straight with landing break: One smooth ride instead of transferring seats. vs Home elevator: Half the cost, no construction permits, no shaft needed. vs Moving: A fraction of what selling and relocating costs.
Weatherproof · From $4,000
Rated for Mountain Top's 39-inch annual snowfall and freeze-thaw winters. Weather-sealed motor, marine-grade rail, IP55-rated. Common on front-porch entries and basement bulkhead stairs.
vs Standard stairlift outdoors: Won't rust, seize, or void its warranty. vs Exterior ramp: No permits, no concrete work, no lost yard. vs Home entry renovation: Installed in a single day.
600 lb Rated · From $5,050
Built for higher weight needs — wider seat, reinforced rail, heavy-duty motor. Works on both straight and curved configurations. Same 5-year warranty as the standard models.
vs Standard stairlift: Extra capacity and wider seat for maximum comfort. vs Custom furniture lift: A fraction of the price with faster install. vs Home elevator: Much lower cost with the same weight confidence.
When you call All American Stairlifts, you'll speak directly with a licensed installer who lives and works in Luzerne, PA.
Mountain Top Stairlift Specialist · 15+ years of experience
(800) 965-0350 [email protected]Proven local experience. Licensed. Insured. No surprises.
The kinds of staircases and installs we see across Mountain Top's older and newer homes alike. Drag to scroll, or use the arrows and dots below.
Luis measured our split-level in Fairview Heights on a Tuesday and had the curved rail installed the following Monday. My father-in-law hadn't been upstairs in eight months — the half-flight landing turn was too much. Now he uses his own bedroom again. The rail fits the turn exactly. No wall damage. Luis even adjusted the seat height twice to get it perfect for Dad's bad knee.
We put off getting a stairlift for two years because we thought the HISA paperwork would be a nightmare. Luis did the whole thing — came to our house in Nuangola, measured the stairs, gave us the quote, and then sat at our kitchen table and filled out the VA forms with us. The grant covered the full straight-rail install. Three hours on install day and my husband was riding up to the second floor.
We needed an outdoor lift for the front porch stairs on our Glen Summit property. Sixteen steps, exposed to full winter weather. Luis recommended the weather-sealed model with the marine-grade rail. It's been through one full Mountain Top winter — 40-plus inches of snow, ice, freeze-thaw — and runs like the day it was installed. The battery backup kicked in during a January outage without us even noticing.
Our Blytheburn home has a narrow staircase — 32 inches wide with carpeted treads. Other companies told us to widen it. Luis said the slim-rail model fits as-is. He was right. The rail mounts to the treads through the carpet, no tears or damage. My mother uses it three times a day now, and the seat folds up tight against the rail when she's not on it. You'd barely know it's there.
The heavy-duty model was the right call for us. My brother is a bigger guy and standard stairlifts always felt flimsy to him. This one is rated to 600 pounds and the seat is noticeably wider. Luis installed it on our straight basement stairs in Capital Hill Village in under three hours. My brother tested it three times before he'd let Luis leave — it didn't budge. Quiet motor too.
We needed a platform lift for my mom's wheelchair — she has MS and can't transfer to a stairlift seat. Luis put in an inclined platform lift on our straight indoor staircase in Dorrance Township. Flat black deck, yellow safety edges, folds up against the wall when not in use. Mom rolls on at the bottom, rides up, rolls off at the top. It changed everything about her daily routine. She can get to her bedroom and bathroom independently again.
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Straight Stairlift, Standard Use
Estimated: $3,150 – $6,150
A member of our Mountain Top team is reviewing your answers right now and will call you within 24 hours. Your quote is free and there is no obligation to buy.
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Compare your options honestly. A stairlift is the only choice that keeps you in the home you love, at a fraction of every alternative.
| Your option | Upfront cost | 10-year total |
|---|---|---|
| Stairlift Installation Best value Professional install by All American Stairlifts, Mountain Top PA | $3,150 – $16,800 One-time | $3,150 – $16,800 Lifetime use |
| Moving to a single-story home Selling, buying, closing, moving costs in the Luzerne market | $50,000+ Plus relocation stress | $50,000+ Loss of community ties |
| Assisted living facility Luzerne County average, private room | $4,500/mo Recurring | $540,000 And rising annually |
| In-home caregiver (8 hrs/day) Licensed home health aide, Florida market rates | $6,000/mo Recurring | $730,000+ Before wage increases |
| Home elevator installation Requires shaft construction, permits, months of work | $25,000 to $50,000 Plus renovation | $28,000 to $55,000 Includes maintenance |
Sources: AARP Cost of Care Survey 2025, Genworth Cost of Care Study, and Pennsylvania Department of Elder Affairs. Figures reflect Mountain Top metro averages.
Most Mountain Top homeowners qualify for at least one of these programs. We help you apply at no cost.
Up to $6,800 for service-connected veterans and their surviving spouses. One-time, tax-free, no repayment.
Eligibility: Veterans & surviving spousesHome & Community-Based Services Waiver may cover up to 100% of installation for income-qualified residents.
Eligibility: Medicaid + medical needWith a doctor's letter of medical necessity, the full cost is deductible on Schedule A as a qualified medical expense.
Eligibility: Taxpayers who itemize0% and low-APR plans through our lending partners. Soft credit pull, instant approval, no prepayment penalty.
Eligibility: All homeownersNot sure which applies? Our local specialist will walk you through every program you might qualify for during your free home assessment. Get started here →
Straight answers about cost, installation, and funding, no sales fluff. Browse by topic or call us if you have a question that isn't here.
It comes down to your staircase, not a flat citywide rate. A straight run is the cheaper install; a lot of homes here have a landing or turn partway up because of how the lots sit on the mountain, and that pushes you into curved-rail pricing. Mountain Top's median household income is $51,655, and most of the families we quote here aren't paying the full amount out of pocket in one lump sum — financing or a state program usually covers part of it.
Yes, and it's worth budgeting for honestly rather than getting surprised. Curved rail is custom-measured and custom-built for your exact staircase, which is why it costs more than an off-the-shelf straight rail. Given how many Mountain Top staircases follow a split-level or turned layout instead of a straight run, ask for both quotes up front so you know which one applies to your house.
The Pennsylvania Assistive Technology Foundation (PATF) offers loans up to $60,000 for accessibility equipment like stairlifts, with no income limit. Smaller amounts — $100 to $7,000 — can qualify for a 0% Mini-Loan, and anything over $7,000 runs at 3.75% through their Low-Interest Loan. It's a straightforward option for Mountain Top homeowners who don't qualify for Medicaid but still don't want to pay the full cost at once.
Most straight-rail jobs are done in a few hours. Curved rail takes longer because the rail has to be built to match your exact stairs — expect a measuring visit first, then a separate install date once the rail is fabricated. With 4,632 housing units in the borough and a fair number built decades ago, we sometimes find older stair stringers or narrower treads that need a look before we commit to a timeline, but that's assessed on the first visit, not guessed at over the phone.
Yes — that's actually one of the more common layouts we install for up here, given how many Mountain Top homes are built into the slope with a walk-out basement level. Split staircases usually mean two shorter rail runs or a single curved rail through the landing, depending on the angle. We size that at the in-home visit rather than off a general description, since no two split-level runs on the mountain are cut quite the same.
No. The rail mounts to the treads of the staircase itself, not the wall, so drywall and trim are left alone. That matters in a lot of Mountain Top homes where the staircase is original to the build — the mounting points are set into the structural part of the stair, and the rail can be removed later without leaving the staircase worse off than before.
The main one to know is Pennsylvania's Community HealthChoices (CHC) Waiver, which covers home adaptations including stairlifts under its Home Accessibility Durable Medical Equipment (HADME) benefit — there's no fixed dollar cap, it's approved case-by-case through your CHC-MCO Service Coordinator based on medical need. The PA Health Law Project helpline, 1-800-274-3258, is a good place to start if you're not sure you're already enrolled. If you're 60 or older and not on Medicaid, the state's OPTIONS Program (sometimes called "Help at Home") is worth asking about too, though it runs on a sliding-scale co-pay rather than a set amount.
Call the Area Agency on Aging for Luzerne & Wyoming Counties at 570-822-1158 (toll-free 1-800-252-1512). They're the local gateway for OPTIONS, CHC waiver enrollment assistance, and care coordination, so they can tell you which door to walk through instead of you guessing. The Northeast Pennsylvania Center for Independent Living (MyCIL), 570-344-7211, is another option — they don't fund stairlifts directly, but they do provide information and referral on home accessibility and can help coordinate waiver services if you're already in the system.
A veteran with a qualifying service-connected disability can apply for the VA's Specially Adapted Housing (SAH) grant, capped at $126,526 for FY2026, or the smaller Special Home Adaptation (SHA) grant at $25,350. Separately, HISA funds run up to $6,800 for service-connected veterans or $2,000 for non-service-connected, and the stairlift itself can sometimes be covered directly through VA Prosthetics with a doctor's prescription and no fixed dollar cap. Given Luzerne County's veteran population, this is one we get asked about often — start with VA benefits at 1-800-827-1000 to find out which track applies to your situation.
Mountain Top Stairlift Specialist · 15+ yrs
I've driven up Nescopeck Mountain enough times to know Mountain Top doesn't build cookie-cutter houses — the lots pitch, so you get curved staircases and mid-level landings a lot more than you'd see down in the valley. Homeownership sits near 90% in this borough, so when I show up I'm almost always talking to the person who actually owns the house, not a landlord's property manager, and that makes the whole process — measuring, financing, install day — move a lot faster.
Mountain Top sits on a ridge where nearly every home has stairs — whether it's the basement-to-kitchen flight in a Dorrance Township raised ranch or the main staircase in a two-story colonial off South Mountain Boulevard. We install the same straight-rail lifts here that go into Philadelphia row homes and the same custom-curved rails that handle 90-degree landings in Scranton Victorians. The equipment doesn't change — the installer does. Luis knows which homes in Fairview Township have oak treads vs. carpet, and he knows the HISA grant paperwork cold for the Wilkes-Barre VA.
Call for a no-pressure assessment. Luis comes to your home, measures the staircase, talks through straight vs. curved, and gives you a written quote the same day. No deposit needed to schedule.
Two quick screens. We use the full address to dispatch the installer closest to you.
A certified Mountain Top technician visits your home, measures your stairs, and answers every question. 100% free. No obligation.
Most stairlifts are installed in a single day by our licensed Mountain Top team. Clean, quiet, ready to ride the same afternoon.
Or call (800) 965-0350, Monday through Friday, 8am to 6pm
