Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Public schools that outperform most of Pennsylvania. Settled in 1784, this town now has 12,357 residents.
Trash & recyclingJefferson Hills’s strongest subject is schools: its schools outperform 92% of the state's. Add health to its strengths — it is healthier than 90% of U.S. towns. The catch is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $316K, 4.2 years of the Pittsburgh metro’s $76K median household income. It also trails on walkability (C). Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 69% of U.S. towns. All told, that adds up to an A overall, better than 89% of U.S. towns. In the ranking it comes 200th of 1032 in Pennsylvania. This Pennsylvania town has 2 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Bridge in Jefferson Borough.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Jefferson Hills beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Jefferson Hills Intermediate Sch | 3–5 | 856 |
| Gill Hall El Sch | K–2 | 424 |
| Thomas Jefferson HS | 9–12 | 1,041 |
| Widest gap | Jefferson Hills | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults in fair or poor health | 14.3% | 18.7% |
Census counts: 4,138 in 1930, 12,424 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 2007 and 5 maps from 1904 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Pennsylvania), ordered by how far Jefferson Hills is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Jefferson Hills. Close and well known come first.
Big draw11 mi Stadium & arenaAcrisure Stadium
Big draw37 mi MuseumFallingwater
8 mi Theme parkKennywood
11 mi LandmarkFort Duquesne
11 mi Stadium & arenaPNC Park
10 mi Stadium & arenaPPG Paints ArenaAcrisure Stadium: Fo2grfr, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fallingwater: Carol M. Highsmith, Public domain · Kennywood: Ski2007 of English Wikipedia, Public domain · Fort Duquesne: Sébastien Paquin, CC BY-SA 3.0 · PNC Park: alpineinc, CC BY 2.0 · PPG Paints Arena: Jleedev, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Jefferson Hills, 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 Jefferson Hills.
Of its 4 schools, two are listed below, each with the reason. Public schools: West Jefferson Hills SD. The largest public high school is Thomas Jefferson HS, with 1,041 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson Hills Intermediate SchLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 856 | A− |
| Thomas Jefferson HSLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,041 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within PA on state tests and graduation
Jefferson Hills: 29% of adults have obesity. Just over a fifth of adults binge drink locally.
| Jefferson Hills | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 18% | 16% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 16% | 17% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 35% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 24% | 25% |
| What stands out | Jefferson Hills | PA |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults in fair or poor health | 14.3% | 18.7% |
| Fewer adults who get no exercise | 18.3% | 23.8% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.8% | 8.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 8.6 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 60% of Pennsylvania’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 6 reported in 2025, 0.5 per 1,000 residents.
Jefferson Hills’ property offense rate is 3.8 per 1,000 residents, below both the Pennsylvania town median (5.7) and the median of U.S. towns (9.9). In Jefferson Hills, the violent crime rate is 0.5 per 1,000 residents.
| Jefferson Hills | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.8 per 1,000 residents | 5.7 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.5 per 1,000 residents | 0.7 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
The top destinations are Pittsburgh (26%), West Mifflin (7%) and Pleasant Hills (5%). Jobs based in Jefferson Hills fell to 3,962 in 2023, 663 fewer than in 2013. Jefferson Hills: a fifth of workers work from home, against 12% in Pennsylvania’s towns and 11% across U.S. towns. In Jefferson Hills, the median household income is $116,000.
| Jefferson Hills | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 20% | 12% | 11% |
| Median household income | $116,000 | $81,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 2.8% | 7.6% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Households in Jefferson Hills have drawn federal disaster aid once, in 2004. Storm and flood damage is expected to run lower than in 70% of U.S. communities. Also worth knowing: the national flood insurance program has paid 58 claims in the town since 1979. Expected losses in Jefferson Hills break down as 86% from inland flooding and 7% from cold waves.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The biggest park or preserve is 885 Andrew Reilly Memorial Park, at 23 acres. In 4 parks and preserves, walkers have 4.9 miles of trail. Jefferson Hills’ trail density comes in at 0.3 miles per square mile.
| Jefferson Hills | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.9% | 8.2% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. 885 Andrew Reilly Memorial Park | 0.4 mi | 23 |
| 2. Gill Hall Community Park | 0.3 mi | 4 |
| 3. Beedle Park | — | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 22° and about 21 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The share of households in Jefferson Hills who are owner-occupiers: 84%. Jefferson Hills’ median rent stands at $1,355 a month. On the market in the town: a median 37 days to sell.
| Jefferson Hills | Pennsylvania towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 84% | 78% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,355 a month | $1,114 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
13 within 15 miles of the center of Jefferson Hills
About 4 of every 100 Jefferson Hills residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Pennsylvania.
10,619 counted in 2010 and 12,424 in 2020; an estimated 12,357 in 2025.
Growth has leveled off: within 1% of 2020, after 17% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
2 places in Jefferson Hills on the National Register of Historic Places.
Borough in Pennsylvania, US
Jefferson Hills is a borough in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 12,424. It is part of the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Part of the West Jefferson Hills School District, Jefferson Hills was created as Jefferson Township. Incorporated on January 22, 1828, it was named after Thomas Jefferson. Before 1998, the borough was known as simply Jefferson.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Jefferson Hills.
West Mifflin next door grades lower for schools (C to Jefferson Hills’s A) and higher for cost of living (A− to C−).
| Town | PA rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jefferson Hills | #200 | A | C− | A− | A | A |
| Clairton | #963 | C− | A− | — | C− | D |
| Pleasant Hills | #35 | A+ | C+ | B+ | A | A |
| South Park Township | #21 | A+ | C | A | A− | A |
| West Elizabeth | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| West Mifflin | #731 | B− | A− | C− | C | B− |
| Forward Township | #433 | B+ | B+ | — | A | B− |
| Elizabeth | — | — | A | — | A | D |
Elizabeth has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Clairton, Forward Township and Elizabeth report no FBI crime data of their own. West Elizabeth isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Jefferson Hills with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Jefferson Hills grades A overall, better than 89% of U.S. towns and #200 of 1032 in Pennsylvania. It grades A for health, A− for safety and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $316,000, 10% above 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 C−.
2 notable people were born here, including Chase Winovich and J. A. Pierce.
.jpg){kind=link}
