Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Bradford gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $86K, 1.4 years of the Bradford area’s $63K median household income. It grades C− overall, 974th among Pennsylvania's 1032 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its police reported 59 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 95% of U.S. towns, and FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 81% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. On the plus side, it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 92% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 98% of U.S. towns, with 4 places on the National Register. Bradford’s violent crime rate is 7.9 per 1,000 residents, above both Pennsylvania’s towns (0.7) and U.S. towns (1.6). Only 135 of Pennsylvania’s 1,749 towns score lower on health. Its National Register listings include Bradford Armory and Bradford Downtown Historic District.
Where Bradford beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Bradford Old City Hall
Census counts: 9,197 in 1880, a peak of 19,306 in 1930, 7,849 in 2020. The archive holds 17 old photos and papers going back to 1860 and 4 maps from 1924 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Bradford is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bradford, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Bradford.
Bradford has fewer 90° days than nearly all U.S. towns, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Pennsylvania (mostly inland flooding) and reports violent crime at 3 times the Pennsylvania rate.
Violent crime runs at 7.9 per 1,000 residents, 3 times the Pennsylvania rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D. Reported crimes fell from 316 to 262 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Bradford’s property crime rate is 27.2 per 1,000 residents. Bradford reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 95% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by Bradford Area SD. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Bradford Area HS, with 702 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| School Street El SchLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 514 | B |
| Bradford Area HSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 702 | B |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
3.5 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The trail density in Bradford is 1.0 miles per square mile.
| Bradford | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.0 miles per square mile | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.4% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hanley Park | — | 3 |
| 2. Jan Hamlin Park | — | 1 |
| 3. Burns Memorial Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Bradford beats the Pennsylvania average on 0 of 26 CDC measures and trails it on 14. 22% of adults smoke cigarettes in Bradford.
| Bradford | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 16% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 16% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 14% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 24% | 23% |
| What stands out | Bradford | PA |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 9.2% | 5.8% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 19.9% | 14.5% |
| More smokers | 21.5% | 15.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 97% of Pennsylvania towns, with expected losses of about $532 per resident a year; that rating is what its D for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1979, 43 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Bradford.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Bradford 4sw Rsch 5 weather station, 6 miles away, records that about 1 days a year reach 90°, fewer than in 97% of U.S. towns.
Bradford has cold, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 80°, January nights drop to 15° and about 75 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based here fell from 5,288 in 2013 to 3,876. The average commute for its 2,993 working residents takes 14.5 minutes, against 26.3 across Pennsylvania.
32% of Bradford working residents work locally. Since 2013, Bradford has lost 1,412 jobs, to 3,876 in 2023. 23% of Bradford residents live below the poverty line.
| Bradford | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 32% | 6.3% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 23% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 15 minutes | 26 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $56,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 1.4 years of the Bradford area’s $63K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 97% of Pennsylvania towns; that ratio is one input to its A− for cost of living.
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
2 within 15 miles of the center of Bradford
About 3 of every 100 Bradford residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
8,770 counted in 2010 and 7,849 in 2020; an estimated 7,442 in 2025.
The decline has continued: down 5.1% since 2020, after 10.5% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
4 places in Bradford on the National Register of Historic Places.
22 notable people were born in Bradford.
City in Pennsylvania, US
Bradford is a city in McKean County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located close to the border with New York state and approximately 78 miles (126 km) south of Buffalo, New York. Home to an oil refinery, Zippo headquarters and a University of Pittsburgh branch campus, Bradford is the principal city in the Bradford, PA Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 7,849 at the 2020 census, down from 8,770 in 2010.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Bradford.
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bradford | #974 | C− | A− | D | B− | C− |
| Bradford Township | #574 | B | B+ | — | B− | C |
| Foster Township | #628 | B | A− | B | B− | C |
| Foster Brook | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| University of Pittsburgh Bradford | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Bradford Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Foster Brook and University of Pittsburgh Bradford aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Bradford with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Bradford grades C− overall, better than 17% of U.S. towns and #974 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades C− for health, D for safety and B− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $86,000, 70% below the Pennsylvania typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A−.
22 notable people were born here, including Marilyn Horne and Rube Waddell.
