Photo: JeffersonHills · CC BY-SA 3.0Jefferson Hills’ library runs 29 programs per 1,000 residents, against a typical 24 for libraries its size
Jefferson Hills Public Library serves Jefferson Hills’s 12,424 residents. Last year it lent 73K books, movies and e-books and logged 33K visits.
What stands out about Jefferson Hills’s library
Read from the library’s own yearly report. The page puts what stands out first.
What’s behind Jefferson Hills’ civic life grade
On library visits, community nonprofits and volunteering, Jefferson Hills is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns, #757 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. All three inputs sit below most U.S. towns; Jefferson Hills’ count of community nonprofits comes closest to the middle.
Most U.S. towns with similar household incomes ($87K–$145K) score higher, so income alone doesn’t account for it.
Civic life counts registered nonprofits, library visits and online volunteering groups, so it can miss civic life that runs through congregations, mutual aid or neighbors looking out for each other.
Library visits: IMLS Public Libraries Survey, FY2024. Nonprofits: IRS Exempt Organizations Business Master File, October 2026. Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. How TownRatings grades civic life →
40 community nonprofits are registered in Jefferson Hills
3.3 per 1,000 residents, against a U.S. town median of 3.7. The largest group: youth, sports & recreation.
Community nonprofits, by kind
Counted from the IRS list of tax-exempt organizations by mailing address (fractions where a ZIP code spans towns). Congregations are counted apart (7 here), since whether a church registers depends on its denomination, not the town.
5.5%
5.5% of Jefferson Hills’ Facebook users aged 25–44 belong to a volunteering or activism group, against 7.0% in the typical Pennsylvania town and 7.5% nationally.
Volunteering: Social Capital Atlas (Opportunity Insights), from data by Meta Platforms, Inc.; Chetty et al., Nature 2022. ZIP-code figures, weighted by where Jefferson Hills’ residents live; 2022.
Ahead of most similar-size libraries on 2 of 8 measures
Per resident, against libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people across the U.S.
Jefferson Hills Public Library serves 12,424 people, so it’s measured against U.S. libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000.
Every hour the doors are open, about 32 items go out
Fiscal year 2024. The library’s own count.
Mostly books and media off the shelf
73K loans last year: print, kids’ and digital.
Each of the 34K books and other items on the shelves went out about 1.4 time last year, on average.
26,885 e-books, e-audiobooks and streams last year. Borrow from home with your card, plus research databases: courses, journals, genealogy and more.
About 3 kids’ programs a week
Story times, clubs, classes and events, by who they’re for.
Programs last year by age group
story times and programs a week for ages 0–5, on average.
children’s books and media borrowed per child under 18 in Jefferson Hills last year.
Find it
Jefferson Hills Public Library, 925 Old Clairton Rd, Jefferson Hills.
No late fees. E-books and audiobooks from home. Loans renew on their own if no one’s waiting. Research databases: courses, journals, genealogy.
New in Jefferson Hills? The Handbook →Hours are the survey’s yearly average. Check the library’s own site for today’s hours.
For every $1 it spends, the library lends about $3.21 worth
Set what you’d borrow in a month. It starts at what the average Jefferson Hills cardholder borrows.
Typical for a library this size: $43. Operating budget $355K.
Last year the library lent and hosted about $1.1M worth of books, e-books, programs and Wi-Fi on a $355K budget.
Fine-free. No late fees on books returned late.
Retail prices are typical, rounded down: a new book $17, a kids’ book $12, an e-book or e-audiobook $15, a movie rental $4, a class or program $10, a computer or Wi-Fi session $3. The average cardholder’s month = the library’s yearly loans, attendance and Wi-Fi sessions ÷ its 2,998 cardholders ÷ 12.
Libraries next door
Jefferson Hills ranks 3rd of 4 for borrowing per resident. Tap a town to see its library.
| Town | Library | Loans per resident | Hours | Civic life |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pleasant Hills | Pleasant Hills Public Library fine-free | 14.6 | 50 | C |
| South Park Township | South Park Township Library | 9.0 | 48 | C |
| Jefferson Hills | Jefferson Hills Public Library fine-free | 5.9 | 44 | C− |
| Clairton | Clairton Public Library fine-free | 1.5 | 44 | C− |
| West Elizabeth | None of its own | — | — | — under 1,000 residents |
| West Mifflin | None of its own | — | — | C− |
| Forward Township | None of its own | — | — | C+ |
| Elizabeth | None of its own | — | — | C |
| Union Township | None of its own | — | — | D |
Loans = print + digital items borrowed in the library’s fiscal year, per person it serves. — = no library of its own, a county or regional system (its numbers cover many towns), or no report. Civic life: — = not graded (unincorporated places, whose nonprofits can’t be placed by mailing address, or towns with fewer than two of the three inputs).
What this data can and can’t tell you
From the Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024.
- The library’s own count. Libraries report their own visits, loans and programs. A library that didn’t respond keeps its address and hours here, with no numbers.
Hours are the survey’s yearly average; libraries are compared with others serving about as many people. How TownRatings uses library figures →
Questions about the library and civic life in Jefferson Hills
Does Jefferson Hills have a public library?
Yes. Jefferson Hills Public Library, 925 Old Clairton Rd, serves Jefferson Hills’ 12,424 residents (the survey’s count) and is open about 44 hours a week, averaged over the year.
Is Jefferson Hills Public Library fine-free? Does it lend e-books?
Yes to both: no late fees, and e-books, audiobooks and research databases with a card (the library’s 2024 survey report).
How busy is Jefferson Hills’ library?
It logged 2.6 visits and lent 5.9 items per resident in 2024, against a typical 3.1 visits for libraries serving 10,000 to 25,000 people.
What is Jefferson Hills’ civic life grade?
C− Jefferson Hills is ahead of 23% of U.S. towns on civic life, #757 of 1,029 in Pennsylvania. The grade combines library visits per resident, community nonprofits per 1,000 residents and the share of adults 25–44 in volunteering groups. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
Book talk
Reading, story times and the library in Jefferson Hills.
Libraries: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey, fiscal year 2024. Each library reports its own numbers. Distances are straight-line from the town center. “What your card is worth” uses typical retail prices and is an estimate, not an official figure.